This archive report was first published on 23 October 2021.
October 23, 2021
The East African Community's staff recruitment process has stalled after Uganda, Burundi, and South Sudan flagged it as flawed, exposing the mistrust and competition among partner states.
Ugandan MP Denis Namara moved a motion at the East African Legislative Assembly calling for the suspension of the EAC Staff recruitment exercise until the matter is resolved, threatening to halt operations in Arusha.
Kenya and Tanzania, the big economies, are on the other side, while Rwanda has called for fairness in the distribution of jobs but has not publicly criticized Nairobi and Dodoma.
Kenya and Tanzania have recently established rapport, but the camaraderie has seen them isolated in the scramble for employment quotas in the bloc.
Uganda, through EAC Affairs Minister Rebecca Kadaga, has protested the process of hiring an Eala clerk, with the minister firing strongly worded letters to the Secretariat.
It took the intervention of the Council of Ministers, chaired by Kenya's Chief Administrative Secretary Ken Obura, to cool tempers.
Mr. Obura told The EastAfrican that the concerns raised by Mr. Namara are being resolved, and the Community is moving forward.
Mr. Namara still insists on the quota system in recruitment, but the EAC Secretariat has indicated that the Council of Ministers wants the recruitment conducted through a competitive process.
