Fredrick Mugira
20th April 2011
East Africa, East African Community Partner States have signed a Grant Transfer Agreement to facilitate access of the 120 Million USD availed by the African Development Fund to support the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Programme (LVWATSAN) Phase II.
The Programme is meant to contribute to the improvement of the livelihoods and health of communities in the Basin through the reversal of pollution of the Lake, improvements in sustainable water supply and sanitation infrastructure.
It will specifically reduce pollution in the Lake through improvements in the water supply and sanitation infrastructure of selected towns through five components: water supply, hygiene and environmental sanitation, urban drainage improvement, capacity building and project management.
The signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the 22nd Ordinary meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers held at the Arusha International Conference Centre on 15 April 2011.
The EAC Secretary General, Ambassador Juma Mwapachu signed on behalf of the Community while Ambassador Augustin Nsanze, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations of the Republic of Burundi signed on behalf of his country.
The Economic Secretary in the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kenya, Dr. Geoffrey Mwau; the Director General of the National Development Planning and Research for Rwanda, Leonard Rugwabiza Minega; and Aston Kajara, Minister of State for Planning and Economic Development in charge of Investment for Uganda signed on behalf of their respective countries. The Deputy Minister of Finance of the United Republic of Tanzania, Gregory George Teu will be singing on behalf of his government.
In his remarks, Ambassador Mwapachu hailed the signing of the Grants Transfer Agreements and urged Partner States to ensure that the programme’s resources are efficiently used in order to deliver the desired results.
The signing of the Grant Transfer Agreements follows the signing of the Grant Protocol of Agreement between the African Development Fund and the East African Community on 4 April 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya. The African Development Fund is contributing 89 percent while the five Partner States will contribute 11 percent.
Fifteen secondary towns in the Lake Victoria Basin will directly benefit from this Programme. They are Muyinga, Kayanza and Ngozi in Burundi; Kericho, Keroka and Isebania-Sirari cluster in Kenya; Nyagatare, Kayonza and Nyanza in Rwanda; Geita, Sengerema and Nansio in Tanzania; as well as Mayuge, Ntungamo and the Buwama-Kayabwe-Bukakata cluster in Uganda.
The Protocol for the Sustainable Development of the Lake Victoria Basin tasks the Commission’s Secretariat to mobilise resources for the implementation of sustainable development projects and programmes.
Overall, this initiative seeks to demonstrate that the Millennium Development Goal on ensuring environmental sustainability can be achieved in a relatively short time frame and that investments can be sustained over the long term by effectively integrating physical infrastructure works, training and capacity building into a balanced and cohesive Programme of interventions.
The initiative seeks to develop the right balance between investments on water and sanitation infrastructure in the secondary towns and capacity-building at the local and regional level as means to sustain Programme benefits.
Hello, I would like to share with you an info-graphic on the status of lake victoria updated last year 2014. You may choose to publish it on these website at no cost to you or the organisation. It was produced in “public interest” Icould send it to you in any format of your choice in you provide an address (email). for now you can access the infographic at http://www.jojikan.tumblr.com scroll down to where you see “Pollution on lake victoria” thanks and good day