Previous studies have revealed that there are some global or tropical scale biases in the coupled models of CMIP3 and CMIP5, e.g., the excessive equatorial Pacific cold tongue and double Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) \citep{LiGen_2014}, weak Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) \citep{WangChunzai_2014}, and an unrealistic mean thermocline slope tilting upward toward the eastern Indian Ocean \citep{Cai_2013, LiGen_2015}. These large scale biases in the coupled models might potentially affect the precipitation simulations over East Africa and the linkage between the two needs to be explored. In explaining the East African rainfall annual cycle, \citet{Yang_2015} proposed that it is modulated by the near surface moist static energy (MSE), which in turn is controlled by the off-coast SSTs as well as the low level atmospheric circulation. Here we examine whether the MSE  framework can be applied to understand the annual cycle bias over East Africa in the CMIP5 coupled models.