This archive report was first published on 28 September 2019.
Published on September 28, 2019, at the 20th High Level Conference on Trade Integration 2019, Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, President of the East African Court of Justice, highlighted the court's underfunding as a major concern.
According to Justice Ugirashebuja, the lack of compliance from some East African member states to disburse funds necessary for the court's operations is the primary cause of the underfunding.
This has resulted in a significant backlog of pending cases, as the court lacks the necessary resources to finance its operations.
Justice Ugirashebuja warned that the independence of the court is jeopardized due to the underfunding, emphasizing the need for adequate funding to advance trade integration in the East African Community.
Francis Gimara, Head of ALP East Africa and a renowned attorney, also expressed concerns over arbitration costs, attributing the high costs to the practice of hiring external arbitrators instead of regional ones.
Mr. Gimara stated, 'Our leaders will tell us they encourage the building of African institutions, regional and local labor, but when issues of arbitration come up, they will hire expensively from Europe and other external sources. This makes the costs high.'
