The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has rejected a $5 million budget for translation and interpretation services in the East African Community budget for 2023/2024.
The Assembly stated that the EAC Treaty only recognizes English as the bloc’s official language.
The EAC Council of Ministers, who convened on August 14, failed to resolve the matter, with the Democratic Republic of Congo demanding that the EAC Secretariat include funds for translation and interpretation services in the already approved budget, as reported by The EastAfrican.
“We have an approval process for the 2023/24 budget. The Council of Ministers had approved the budget, but EALA wanted to rearrange the budget… we are trying to resolve that so we can implement the budget,” said Rebecca Miano, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the EAC.
She mentioned that the DRC aims to include services for interpretation and translation into French, which would breach the ceiling, but she added that the team is still consulting to find a resolution.
“Other partner states, led by Tanzania, ought to adhere to the approved budgetary ceilings,” stated the Secretariat.
“We are still holding discussions on the matter. As you know, within the EAC, consensus must be reached before a matter is agreed upon,” the minister explained.
The EALA General Purpose Committee declined to approve the allocation for translating English into French and Kiswahili, citing the grounds that under the current EAC Treaty, which has not been reviewed since its launch in 1999, the official language of the Community is English.
“The Summit passed a resolution and directed the Council to establish procedures to ensure that French and Kiswahili become official languages of the Community,” stated Denis Namara, a Ugandan MP and a member of the General Purpose Committee.
While Kiswahili and French have been designated as official languages of the bloc, English remains the working language for day-to-day transactions.
“The Treaty is unequivocal about the official language. Thus, it is the Council’s responsibility to ensure the Summit amends it for those two languages to attain official status within the Community. They cannot be deemed official languages when the Treaty does not stipulate so.”
Namara attributed the EAC Secretariat for raising the issue in the assembly merely 10 days before the end of the financial year.
He also argued that there were no funds to allocate, as the DRC had not even fulfilled its due contributions.
“That money was expected to come from the DRC. However, the DRC had not paid and still has not paid up to this point. Consequently, we directed that the money be deposited in the general reserve account so that, if they wish to appropriate it, they can bring it up in the next financial year. Additionally, they should expedite the Treaty amendments. This process doesn’t require an extended period. The Summit can convene and modify the Treaty even in a single day,” the MP concluded.
