The Secretary General of the East African Community, Veronica Nduva, said on Friday that Burundi has remitted part of its financial obligations to the regional bloc, as the organization continues to grapple with a major budget deficit caused by delayed contributions from member states.
Speaking during a press briefing with journalists at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Nduva said the Republic of Burundi recently transferred funds toward its dues.
“Yesterday we received $1.5 million from Burundi,” Nduva said. The Secretary General said the bloc’s overall budget performance remains significantly below expectations.
“Our budget performance of about $101 million has been at around 39 to 48 percent, leaving a deficit of about 50 percent,” she told reporters.
Nduva noted that financial contributions from partner states are critical for sustaining the operations of the regional body, which oversees various institutions and integration programs across East Africa.
According to financial figures Burundi Times obtained before Burundi remitted the $1.5 million, outstanding contributions from partner states remain high. The figures show that Burundi has accumulated arrears exceeding $15.7 million, with a total outstanding amount of more than $22.7 million. The Democratic Republic of the Congo owes roughly $27.7 million, while South Sudan has more than $21.8 million in outstanding payments.
The financial table also indicated that Kenya and Tanzania had fully paid their annual contributions for the 2025–2026 financial year, while Uganda had paid about 81 percent of its obligation and Rwanda around 25 percent.
Overall, the community is owed about $89.3 million by partner states, according to the figures in the financial report document Burundi Times obtained.
Nduva said the organization continues to rely on cooperation and goodwill among member states to address the funding gap.
“You know decision making is by consensus,” she said. “We have to urge partner states, and good intentions are the most important thing. As a community we are not at the same financial level.”
The East African Community is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising eight partner states Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda — and aims to promote economic, political and social integration across East Africa.
Its annual budget finances the operations of key regional institutions including the EAC Secretariat, the East African Legislative Assembly and the East African Court of Justice, among others. For the 2025–2026 financial year, the bloc approved a budget of about $109 million to support regional programs and institutions.
Under the EAC treaty, the budget is primarily funded through equal contributions from partner states as well as support from development partners and other sources.
However, persistent delays in remitting contributions have repeatedly strained the bloc’s finances and slowed some of its operations in recent years.
Nduva said the Secretariat continues to engage member states to ensure that commitments are honored and the community’s integration agenda remains on track
