LAKE Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) is most likely to be an institution of the East African Community (EAC).
To that end, the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) will be considering, in its ongoing session, to debate the Lake Victoria Basin Commission Bill and pass it as an Act of the EAC.
The Bill, which is moved by the chair of the Council of Ministers, is premised on Chapter 19 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, particularly Article 114, under which, the partner states agreed to cooperate in the management of their water and marine resources.
They agreed also specifically to establish a body for the management of Lake Victoria. The commission shall be responsible for, among other duties, coordination of stakeholders’ participation in sustainable development of natural resources of the Lake Victoria Basin.
It will also deal with the harmonisation of policies, laws, regulations and standards concerning the Lake Victoria Basin.
Capacity building, institutional development, security and safety of navigation within Lake Victoria, are key components that the Bill provides for.
LVBC is a specialised commission of the EAC located in the city of Kisumu, Kenya, and within the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB).
It is mandated to coordinate sustainable development and management of the Lake Victoria Basin in the EAC partner states.
The Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources of Eala collected views from stakeholders on the Bill.
Among other things, the LVBC has been promoting, facilitating and coordinating activities of different actors towards sustainable development and poverty eradication of the LVB.
As of now, the LVBC is governed by a Secretariat that reports to the Sectoral Council of Ministers on Lake Victoria (Secom).
Some functions that Secom performs include providing overall policy directions for the implementation of projects and programmes in the LVB, guiding the implementation of development programmes in the LVB and making regulations, issuing directives, taking decisions and making recommendations to the Council of Ministers for EAC.
If the LVBC becomes an institution with the EAC, it will be the ninth after the Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (Cassoa), the East African Competition Authority (EACA) and the East African Development Bank (EADB).
Others are the East African Health Research Commission (EAHRC), the East African Kiswahili Commission (EAKC), the East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO), the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) and the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO).
