Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Burundi
On Monday, 21 September 2026, Mr. Sévérin Mbarubukeye, Permanent Secretary in charge of East African Community (EAC) Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Development Cooperation, held a press conference on the recruitment of staff within the East African Community (EAC), Phase I.The press conference aimed to inform Burundian citizens about the opportunities offered through this recruitment process and to prepare accordingly.
The Permanent Secretary recalled that recruitment within the EAC had been suspended since 2024 due to financial constraints. Noting that the shortage of staff was affecting the Community’s essential activities, the Chairperson-in-Office of the EAC Summit of Heads of State instructed the Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers and the Secretary General of the EAC to convene a meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers to resume the recruitment process. Consequently, from 18 to 21 August 2026, a meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers was held in Mombasa, Republic of Kenya, to deliberate on the matter.
The Permanent Secretary explained that, during the meeting, the Council lifted the moratorium on recruitment and authorized the EAC Organs and Institutions to begin a phased recruitment process in order to facilitate the functioning of the Community’s Organs and Institutions. Thus, with a view to balancing the urgent need for staff with the reality of limited resources, a three-phase recruitment process was adopted, as follows:
First Phase: to be carried out during the 2026/2027 financial year, focusing on filling 69 priority positions across all EAC Organs and Institutions.
Second Phase: to be carried out during the 2027/2028 financial year, focusing on filling positions that will become vacant by July 2027.
Third Phase: will cover the remaining vacant positions, as well as any other position that become vacant after 2027.
Mr. Sévérin Mbarubukeye further indicated that the EAC Council of Ministers had approved the use of an electronic recruitment system to manage and support the recruitment of staff for the Community’s Organs and Institutions. In this regard, the EAC General Secretariat was requested to convene, as soon as possible, a meeting of experts from the Ministries responsible for Public Service Management, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and EAC Affairs, in order to assess the functionality, viability and credibility of the system.
The Permanent Secretary further explained that the use of the integrated electronic recruitment system would involve the following steps:
- Publication of vacancies: Recruitment notices will be published in a major daily newspaper and on the EAC website to ensure wide dissemination in each Partner State, in accordance with the EAC Staff Regulations, including the Operational Manual for the implementation of the Quota System, which is currently being updated.
- Application: All applications will be submitted through the electronic recruitment system.
- Automated generation of the longlist: The system will generate a list of qualified candidates based on the approved job descriptions and the criteria agreed upon with the Partner States for each position.
- Aptitude tests: Candidates will sit a standardized and uniform aptitude test administered by designated institutions in each Partner State. The tests will be supervised by an EAC staff member in the presence of an observer designated by each Partner State.
- Final virtual interviews: Only the three highest-ranked candidates from each Partner State (making a total of 24 candidates for each position) will be invited to the interviews. The interviews will continue to be conducted virtually for the candidates, while representatives of the Partner States will meet at the EAC Headquarters.
Mr. Mbarubukeye also indicated that French would be used during the interviews, ensuring linguistic accessibility for all French-speaking candidates.
Regarding the eligibility of Partner States for the 69 positions under Phase I, the Permanent Secretary explained that this would be determined once the Operational Manual for the implementation of the Quota System, which is currently being finalized, is adopted by the EAC Council of Ministers.
The Permanent Secretary encouraged eligible Burundian citizens to prepare themselves and seize the opportunity offered by this recruitment process so that they are ready when the recruitment notices are published. He also reaffirmed the Ministry’s readiness to support interested Burundian citizens throughout the process.
He called on Burundian citizens to regularly consult the websites of the Ministry and the East African Community for official communications regarding the recruitment process.
At the end of his presentation, Mr. Mbarubukeye gave the floor to the journalists, who asked various questions. The answers provided helped clarify the recruitment procedures and reassured the public about the transparency and fairness of the process.