The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat is facing an acute staff shortage after the Council of Ministers failed to agree on retaining short-term employees.

 

Temporary workers—who comprise over 44 percent of the secretariat’s entire human resource personnel—had their contracts abruptly terminated last weekend after the council failed to reach a decision on whether to extend their tenures beyond June 2025.

Kenya, currently chairing the Council of Ministers, walked out of the 35th Meeting of the Sectoral Council of Ministers Responsible for EAC Affairs and Planning and the 58th Extraordinary Meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers last week in Arusha, effectively scuttling any tangible decision on staff recruitment.

Kenya argues that EAC partner states have failed to remit their contributions, raising concerns on where funds to pay short-term workers would come from if their contracts were extended.

Staff recruitment and replacement remain uncertain due to a cash crunch caused by failure of the eight EAC partner states to remit their annual contributions of $7 million each—totaling $56 million—before the end of June 2025.

So far, only Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda had remitted their full budgetary contributions to the EAC for the 2024/25 financial year as of June 2025.

Beatrice Askul Moe, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of EAC, Arid and Semi-Arid Lands and Regional Development —who also chairs the council—said the staff recruitment would be guided by council decisions.“It’s partner state consultations that would guide,” she told The EastAfrican when asked why her delegation walked out of a meeting she herself was chairing, and about the fate of staff hiring and whether the council would retain short-term workers.

According to the report from the EAC’s 47th Ordinary Meeting of the Council of Ministers held from April 22–25, 2025, the bloc has a total of 420 positions across all its organs and institutions.

Of these, 152 slots are vacant, while 33 other staff members are expected to exit the community between March and December 2025 due to term expiry and mandatory retirement.“These staffing gaps are primarily in senior roles such as Counsel to the Community, Director General – Corporate Services, Heads of Institutions, and Director positions,” the council report reads.“In addition, a number of areas of cooperation have—or will soon have—no staff in critical departments such as Labour and Employment, Immigration, Environment, Energy, Industry, Monetary and Fiscal Affairs, Gender, Youth, and Civil Society, to mention just a few.”The April 2025 meeting directed that the council’s August/September 2025 session addresses the staffing matter, necessitating an urgent parley to deliberate on recruitment, including a decision on whether to retain short-term staff who have been the backbone of the EAC Secretariat.

EAC Secretary General Veronica Nduva told The EastAfrican that her secretariat would work with the council on staffing matters.“Staffing decisions at the secretariat are guided by policies and procedures approved by the EAC Council of Ministers, which is the policymaking organ responsible for such matters,” said Nduva.“Recruitment timelines depend on budgetary allocations, council directives, and ongoing institutional reforms. The secretariat continues to work closely with the council to ensure that recruitment processes align with the community’s priorities and available resources.”The EAC employs short-term staff for project-based work, often as individual consultants or through consortiums, to fulfill specific, time-limited needs across its various organs and institutions.

However, some short-term staffers have held their positions for as long as 10 years, creating a legal crisis as it violates labour laws to retain contracted staff beyond their designated short periods.

Furthermore, there has been a pattern of gross irregularities in recruitment and awarding of short-term jobs within the community, which contravenes EAC Staff Rules and Regulations.

Recruitment irregularities have resulted in some partner states receiving a disproportionate share of short-term staff, with Tanzania as the major beneficiary with more than 27 workers, followed by Kenya with fewer than 20, and Uganda thereafter.

Sources within the EAC indicate that some partner states are unhappy with others for insisting on recruiting their nationals at the secretariat as short-term staff, while simultaneously enacting laws and imposing taxes that deny non-citizens the right to work and earn a living within the trade bloc.

For instance, Tanzania’s recently enacted Finance Act 2025 has barred companies from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and other countries from exporting goods to Tanzania, in total disregard of the EAC Customs Union and Common Market protocols, to which Tanzania is a signatory.

Kenya, often seen as the “big brother,” has traditionally taken a diplomatic approach, avoiding direct confrontation—even when its nationals and companies face discrimination especially in Tanzania.

Over the past year, the secretariat has struggled to pay monthly staff salaries due to partner states defaulting on their contributions.

The DRC has been a reluctant contributor, yet its staff and Members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) continue to enjoy full salaries, allowances, and other benefits—despite having remitted only $1 million and owing arrears of over $20.7 million.

Burundi’s arrears stand at $15 million, and South Sudan’s at $15 million, both pending since last year.

Yet, ironically, the non-contributing states have been the most vocal in calling for the recruitment of their nationals at the Secretariat.

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