This archive report was first published on 19 October 2019.
On October 19, 2019, South Sudan took a crucial step towards resolving its long-standing debt to the East African Community (EAC) bloc by paying $3 million of its $27 million annual membership fee arrears.
The payment was confirmed by Mou Mou Athian, the under-secretary for EAC in South Sudan's Ministry of Trade and Industry, in an exclusive interview with The EastAfrican.
According to Mr. Athian, the payment was made by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and received by the EAC Secretariat while he was still in Arusha. The EAC Secretary-General, Libérat Mfumukeko, personally confirmed that the money had been received.
However, Mr. Athian did not provide a timeline for the payment of the remaining $24 million in arrears. The EAC had previously threatened to expel South Sudan from the regional bloc due to its failure to pay its annual contributions.
Earlier this month, the EAC Council of Ministers approved a resolution to sanction and append South Sudan from the regional bloc if it failed to meet its annual obligations. The Secretariat had given Juba an 18-month grace period to pay, but the country failed to meet the deadline.
Mr. Athian stated that a schedule for the payment of the remaining arrears has been drawn, but he did not have the details at the time of the interview. The Finance Ministry's planning department is expected to provide further information on the payment plan.
