The Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera, has hailed the Lake Victoria Basin Commission’s interventions in Mount Elgon and recommended a scale-up of its activities in that ecosystem.
Jinja, UGANDA, 11 May 2012: The Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera, has hailed the Lake Victoria Basin Commission’s interventions in Mount Elgon and recommended a scale-up of its activities in that ecosystem. He was visiting the beneficiaries of the Mount Elgon Regional Ecosystem Conservation Programme (MERECP) in Uganda.
MERECP is a pioneer transboundary natural resources management programme implemented by the Governments of Kenya and Uganda, with the Governments of Norway and Sweden. The first phase of the Programme is scheduled to be completed this month.
During his visit to Bunabigubo parish, Bubyangu sub-county in Mbale district, Amb. Sezibera had an interactive session with the leadership of the Tayaka Group, whose individual members had planted between 1,000 and 13,000 trees under the livelihood improvement component of MERECP.
He thanked all groups implementing MERECP activities for embracing environmental conservation. “I have come here to thank you because the work you are doing is not only for your benefit; it is for the benefit of the East African Community and the entire world,” Amb. Sezibera told the Tayaka Group members.
In the company of the LVBC Executive Secretary, Dr. Canisius Kanangire, the MERECP Regional Programme Coordinator, George Sikoyo as well as selected EAC staff, Amb. Sezibera promised to work with LVBC to mobilise funds for the scaling up of the Programme during the second phase.
Amb. Sezibera also visited the Bunyafwa Community Based Organisation in Bunyafwa sub-county, Sironko district, which hailed the MERECP interventions for improving the socio-economic conditions of its members.
The LVBC Executive Secretary, Dr. Kanangire informed the beneficiary communities that the Commission was in discussion with the Governments of the of Kenya and Uganda to ensure that the flow of funds for Programme is improved during the second phase.
Amb. Sezibera later visited Mayuge town in Mayuge district, Uganda, to assess the Lake Victoria Water Supply and Sanitation Programme Phase II (LVWATSAN II).
In a meeting attended by Dr. Kanangire and the LVWATSAN Programme Coordinator, Eng. Dan Oduor Owore, the Town Clerk for Mayuge, Daniel Kasala, indicated that the estimated 30,000 dwellers of Mayuge were eager to see that the programme succeeds. Amb. Sezibera urged the Mayuge leaders to use the opportunity availed by LVWATSAN II to sensitise the community to make Mayuge greener and improve sanitation in the homesteads and public spaces.
Amb. Sezibera will conclude his tour with a visit to the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisations in Jinja, Uganda.
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For more information please contact: Owora Richard Othieno, Head of Department; Corporate Communications and Public Affairs; Tel: +255 784 835021; Email:
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Charles-Martin Jjuuko, Communications and Development Awareness Officer, Lake Victoria Basin Commission; Cell: +254 726 760127, Email:
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