The 21st Sectoral Council of Ministers for Lake Victoria Basin (SECOM) kicked off with the session of the Senior Officials on 2nd May 2022 in Kisumu, Republic of Kenya.
The technical team comprised of the Directors from the Ministry of Water, Environment and Transport from the East African Community (EAC) informs the sectoral council meetings – the Principal and Permanent Secretaries and the relevant sectoral Ministers from the EAC Partner States.
Kenya’s delegate, Eng. Paul Agwanda, welcomed participants to Kisumu and provided the historical resonances with the EAC integration process. He urged delegates to interact and sample the culture of the people of Kisumu.
Acting Executive Secretary of the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), Isaac Nyarwaya cited the uniqueness of 21st SECOM. The meeting took place at the time when the LVBC gets the new leadership – Executive Secretary and Deputy Executive Secretary. “The second uniqueness, 21st SECOM will approve the LVBC Strategic Plan 2021-2026,” Nyarwaya said.
He enumerated several activities conducted by LVBC since the last SECOM meeting in May 2019 which included, among others: , take off the construction of LVBC Headquarters, internal evaluation of LVBC Strategic Plan 2016-2021, formulation of the new one (2021-2026) and approval of the LVBC Act. Moving forward, he stated the latter item awaits final stage: tabling and Assent by the EAC Summit.
He also informed delegates LVBC’s efforts to engage the Republic of Uganda and Republic of Kenya to restore Mt. Elgon Ecosystem through sustainable trans-boundary cooperative framework. Critical challenges pointed out as still constraining operations of LVBC included delayed disbursement of funds from EAC Partner States and climate change induced challenges: floods, landslides, soil erosion, among others.
The chairperson for the session of the technical team, Mrs. Hellen Sewe from the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, Republic of Kenya commended LVBC for having remained operational amidst COVID-19 challenges by taking technological opportunities to engage different partners.
The Chairperson asked delegates to take one minute of silence in remembrance of H.E President Mwai Kibaki who formerly served the Republic of Kenya and significantly contributed to the EAC integration process.
She also acknowledged the negative impacts of climate change to the livelihoods of people within the Lake Victoria Basin. “Concerted efforts at all levels are required to reverse the negative impacts of climate change in Lake Victoria Basin,” the Chairperson of technical team said.
She expressed appreciations the contribution of the EAC Partner States and Development Partners in form of financial and other resources to the Lake Victoria Basin Commission. She urged delegates to deliberate on issues and propose actionable recommendations to the subsequent levels: Principal and Permanent Secretaries and the Ministerial Sessions.
The SECOM provides guidance to the LVBC through decisions and directives after deliberation and consideration of submitted reports relating to institution’s performances and project implementation status.
