ARUSHA – EAC Secretary General Dr Peter Mathuki was on Friday recalled from the prestigious and powerful post in Arusha and nominated as Kenya Ambassador to Russia in President William Ruto’s recent Foreign Service changes.
It was a surprise move as Mathuki, who was appointed to the post in 2021 on recommendation by President Uhuru Kenyatta, was yet to complete his five-year term, which was due to end in 2026.
It is now emerging corruption allegations and jobs at the Arusha, Tanzania, headquarters made his continued stay at the helm of the regional bloc’s secretariat untenable.
Mathuki’s fate was sealed on March 5, during the Third Sitting of the Third Session of the Fifth East Africa Legislative Assembly sitting in Nairobi.
EALA parliamentarians directly asked President Ruto, who was present for the opening, to fire the Secretary General.
At the centre of Mathuki troubles are allegations of misappropriation of $6 million Peace Fund at the Secretariat.
UGANDA MPs ONSLAUGHT
Uganda EALA legislator Musamali Mwasa Paul during the debate on President Ruto’s speech said member countries should deploy to the EAC Secretariat competent people who are “ideologically oriented and clear about the mission and vision of the East African integration agenda.
“If we only deploy for the sake of it, or if we don’t pay attention to whoever is being deployed at EAC, right from the Secretary General, to the lowest cadre, Your Excellency [President Ruto], we risk employing merchants. They are just going there to look for money. We risk employing corrupt people. They will go there and start squandering the little support going there.
“We also risk employing collaborators. Today Your Excellency, and the Secretary General is the focal point, the centre of the accounting officer in the community and the current holder is you, the President.
“I want to implore on you that you take keen interest by ensuring the secretary general [Mathuki] delivers to the expectations and aspirations of the people of East Africa,” Musamali said, catching the attention of President Ruto, who gestured as he made his submissions.
Dennis Namara, MP for Uganda, was more straightforward, asking EAC Cabinet Secretary and by extension the Kenyan government and the summit to get rid of Mathuki.
“It is not too late to liberate the East African Community. The Secretary general you gave us from Kenya, I was wondering, is this the best export Kenya could send to the community?” Namara posed.
The member, who is also the chairman of the Finance sub-committee, further argued that the financial rules of the Treaty establishing the EAC, Budget Act, and all other legislations provide that every money coming into the Community must be appropriated.
“Over $6 million that has been collected as far as I am concerned, that money has been spent and has never gone through appropriation. The SG never brought it to parliament for appropriation.
“The Council of Ministers cannot watch money for the people of East Africa being squandered. What is the reason for the secretary general with is own budget?” he said.
Even though Dr Mathuki, who was present, ignored the criticism, instead focusing on Ruto’s speech, his goose was cooked.
With that, his time in Arusha was over and to save the situation, President Ruto has nominated international civil servant Caroline Mwende Mueke to replace him within the provisions of Article 67 of the EAC treaty.
Article 67 (1) provides that: The Secretary General shall be appointed by the Summit upon nomination by the relevant Head of State under the principle of rotation.
An EALA legislator from Kenya, however, told DiploBrief in confidence that Mathuki’s case “is the nature of politics”.
But while the situation blew up this year, it started boiling last year, with a “whistleblower” petition emerging in August 2023.
The petition sent to the Council of Ministers raised a number of allegations against Mathuki, touching on corruption and mismanagement of EAC affairs.
The petitioner claimed things were “getting out of hand”, under Mathuki, that the EAC resources were being mismanaged and that the Community had become a one-man show in disregard of the treaty and the instruments in place such as the Financial Rules and Regulations, Procurement Manuals, Human Resources Manual and Staff Rules and Regulations.
“The USD. 500,000 Peace Fund, cannot be properly accounted for and now the Secretary-General is trying to divert the Partner States Fund into some of the activities of the DRC. The Council should engage the services of the Anti-Corruption agencies from the Partner States to investigate some of the cases highlighted herein,” the petitioner said in part.
The petitioner also raised concerns about human resource management in the EAC, warning that he “should be reminded that he is just an employee of the Community and he can be recalled and removed from office and another individual brought on his place”.
“It goes without saying that the current SG has scored below average on matters of HR, not because the HR department has failed but because of his high-handedness on matters to do with HR in the Community.
“He has since refused to recognize the just-appointed Principal Human Resources Officer and has on several occasions ignored valuable advice from the Director of Human Resources and Administration,” the petition read in part.
But Mathuki leaves a legacy at the community, having successfully led the Secretariat in the expansion of the EAC by admission of DRC and Somalia.
trouble
