The outgoing EAC top official had just served three out of the expected five years of his tenure at the secretariat before the changes, as the post is held by appointment from the respective country holding the post on a rotating basis.
Certain observers expressed the feeling that the EAC top diplomat had exited the post prematurely, while insiders affirmed that the new development comes a time when a series of complaints were being lodged against Dr Mathuki by various levels of staffing at EAC headquarters.
After President William Ruto picked Dr Mathuki to serve as Kenya’s ambassador to Russia, a new appointment is expected to finish the remaining two years of his term, at which point the post is rotated to another member country.
Dr Mathuki came into the post in 2021, the sixth East African Community secretary general and the second one from Kenya, while his being replaced did not come as a surprise as he faced an impeachment debate at the regional legislature over alleged misappropriation of funds.
The matter came up during debate on the opening address by President Ruto on Wednesday, March 6 for the d inaugural session for this year of the fifth East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in Nairobi.
Dennis Namara, an Ugandan EALA MP and chairman of the finance sub-committee questioned the secretary general’s conduct in observing the financial rules of the EAC Treaty and its Budget Act.
He said that that these statutes and EALA legislation in that regard provide that money coming into the EAC must be appropriated, pointing out that over $6m collected has been spent and has never gone through appropriation procedures.
The outgoing secretary general never brought the collected funds to the legislature for procedural appropriation, he declared, while in his subsequent remarks Dr Mathuki downplayed the issue, choosing instead to focus on the opening speech by President Ruto.
Kenya had its first secretary general, Francis Muthaura who guided the EAC from its inception on 14 March 1996 to 24 April 2001, becoming interim secretary general and then holder of the post during his final months,July 2000 to April 2001.
After Muthaura, Nuwe Amanya Mushega from Uganda served the post from April 2001 to 2006, followed by Juma Mwapachu from Tanzania, heading the organisation from April 2006 to April 2011.
He was succeeded by Richard Sezibera from Rwanda, presiding over the secretariat from April 2011 to March 2016, followed by Burundian diplomat
Liberat Mfumukeko, presiding up to March 2021,followed by Dr Mathuki, who has for years led the East African Business Council (EABC) and picked on his familiarity with EAC inter-state negotiations and business interactions.
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