Sh3.4bn Kisumu water plan rolls out

The Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) will Friday launch a Sh3.4 billion initiative aimed at improving access and quality of water in four major towns of East African Community (EAC) partner states.

The programme mainly targeting residents from the informal sectors will be implemented in Kisumu, (Kenya), Kampala (Uganda), Mwanza (Tanzania) and Kigali in Rwanda.

LVBC Executive Secretary Dr Ally-Said Matano said the scheme is aimed at improving water quality and accessibility in Lake Victoria Basin.

Despite living next to the world’s second largest fresh water body, said Dr Matano, the residents have had to contend with perennial water crisis.

“Its completion is expected to improve availability and quality of water resources, strategic and sustainable management of Lake Victoria which is a shared transboundary resource,” he said during a meeting with high level representatives of international, regional and national cooperation partners.

The establishment of Lake Victoria Basin Integrated Water Resources Management Programme is jointly financed by the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union and the benefitting East African states.

Out of the total grant, Germany has given out Sh2.2 billion, Sh973 million by the European Union and Sh328 million each from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

“The launch is a key milestone. It reflects long-term cooperation between the EAC and European Union,” he said during a meeting at Acacia Premier Hotel on Thursday.

The commissioning of the project at the lakeside city will be graced by principal and permanent secretaries from EAC partner states as well as EAC Secretary-General Liberat Mfumeko. Due to the transboundary nature of the lake, LVBC is considering the formulation of a common strategy for integrated water resource management in the five states in the first phase of the programme.