Nairobi: East Africa Partner States have committed to scale up investments in the conservation of Lake Victoria to protect the water body from pollution and adverse effects of climate change. Principal and Permanent Secretaries from the EAC partner states sharing the resource committed to increasing budgetary allocations to ensure various conservation programmes in the Lake are sustained.
According to Kenya News Agency, during the 11th Joint Regional Policy Steering Committee (RPSC) meeting for Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) projects and programmes, the PS’s underscored the need for partner states to take the lead in resource mobilisation to give impetus to the drive to save the lake. The meeting, chaired by Kenya’s State Department for Water and Sanitation Principal Secretary (PS) Julius Korir, rooted for locally led interventions to conserve the lake, which continues to experience rapid pollution affecting both human and aquatic life.
Pollution, Korir stated, threatened the existence of the lake, which is a source of livelihood for millions of East African residents. He called on partner states to prioritise conservation efforts since support from development partners was dwindling. ‘We must come up with ways to mobilise adequate resources from our own revenues to sustain ongoing conservation projects so that this lake can thrive,’ Korir emphasized.
EAC partner states sharing the lake, Korir noted, must consolidate resources and design new projects to ensure that the lake thrives to support future generations. ‘Our national priorities should not overshadow the need to conserve the lake. We must come to the table with a common agenda of protecting the lake,’ he added.
Korir lauded the various ongoing programmes spearheaded by LVBC to conserve the lake, noting that the initiatives have significantly reduced pressure on the lake. He highlighted the Lake Victoria Basin Integrated Water Resource Management (LVB-IWRM) project, through which various sanitation projects have been rolled out in Kisumu, Kampala, and Kigali. This initiative aims to enhance proper sanitation in urban centres, thereby containing pollution in the lake.
Other projects include the Multinational Lake Victoria Maritime Communication and Transport (MLVMCT) project and the Nile Cooperation for Climate Change Resilience (NCCR) project. Uganda’s Water and Environment PS Alfred Okot emphasized the importance of joint conservation efforts in saving the water body and urged all partner states to remain committed to the conservation drive.
Lake Victoria, Okot added, is also under threat due to climate change, necessitating the design of new projects to combat this phenomenon. Rwanda’s Water PS Beatrice Cyiza echoed the sentiment, stating that successful conservation requires collective efforts to ensure uniform results.
LVBC Executive Secretary (ES) Dr. Masinde Bwire affirmed that the commission, an EAC agency mandated with the conservation of the Lake Victoria Basin, was progressing with various projects. The agency, he added, was increasing engagements with development partners to complete ongoing projects and design new ones to conserve the lake.