{"id":122755,"date":"2025-10-08T20:06:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/mwanza-to-host-regional-headquarters-to-boost-safety-on-lake-victoria\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T20:06:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:06:46","slug":"mwanza-to-host-regional-headquarters-to-boost-safety-on-lake-victoria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/mwanza-to-host-regional-headquarters-to-boost-safety-on-lake-victoria\/","title":{"rendered":"Mwanza to host regional headquarters to boost safety on Lake Victoria"},"content":{"rendered":"

KISUMU, Kenya Oct 8 \u2013 The East African Community (EAC) has successfully completed the development of maritime infrastructure in Tanzania as part of a regional initiative to curb the rising number of deaths on\u00a0Lake Victoria.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This milestone was highlighted during the\u00a01st Extraordinary Sectoral Council of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries\u00a0of the\u00a0Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC)\u00a0held in Kisumu.<\/p>\n

Delegates from the six EAC member states convened to assess the progress and future direction of maritime safety in the region.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the event,\u00a0Kenya\u2019s East African Community Principal Secrerary Caroline Karugu emphasized the urgent need for safety on the lake, citing troubling statistics.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>According to data from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, we are losing\u00a05,000 lives every year\u00a0on Lake Victoria. Many of these deaths are preventable. As the EAC, we cannot allow this to continue,\u201d Karugu said.<\/p>\n

She noted that approximately\u00a050 percent of the fatalities are fishermen, underlining the importance of making the lake safe not only for transportation but also for livelihoods.<\/p>\n

The EAC Council Chairperson disclosed that operational maritime and rescue centers\u00a0have been established in the three EAC countries bordering the lake,\u00a0Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. to tackle this challenge fully.<\/p>\n

The<\/strong>\u00a0regional coordination headquarters\u00a0has been set up in\u00a0Mwanza, Tanzania, while\u00a0satellite centres\u00a0are being set up in\u00a0Kisumu, Kenya, and\u00a0Entebbe, Uganda.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mwanza centre is now fully operational and ready to serve as the central hub for all maritime emergency responses on the lake,\u201d said Dr. Karugu. <\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThe Kisumu and Entebbe centres are not yet fully developed and will greatly improve our ability to respond to emergencies swiftly.\u201d<\/p>\n

In total,\u00a016 maritime and rescue centers\u00a0will also be set up and distributed along the Lake Victoria shoreline,\u00a09 in Uganda, 4 in Kenya, and 3 in Tanzania.<\/p>\n

Dr. Karugu reassured lake users that the EAC is now better equipped than ever to respond to accidents, improve rescue times, and reduce fatalities.<\/p>\n

Representatives from other EAC countries lauded the achievement.<\/p>\n

Ludovick Nduhiye, Deputy Permanent Secretary in Tanzania\u2019s Ministry of Transport, expressed pride that Mwanza had been selected as the host for the regional headquarters.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>This is a landmark achievement for all partner states. The infrastructure will not only save lives but also support economic growth by making Lake Victoria safer for business and transport,\u201d said Nduhiye.<\/p>\n

LVBC Executive Secretary, Dr. Masinde Bwire, added that the operational coordination center in Mwanza will serve as the backbone of the region\u2019s efforts to enhance maritime safety.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Karugu revealed that the Council had reached an agreement on how to utilize Sh\u00a07.8 billion\u00a0(equivalent to\u00a050 million euros) in funding from the\u00a0Government of Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe funds will be directed toward improving sanitation around the Lake Victoria Basin, making the lake not only safer but also more sustainable for generations to come,\u201d she stated<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KISUMU, Kenya Oct 8 \u2013 The East African Community (EAC) has successfully completed the development of maritime infrastructure in Tanzania as part of a regional initiative to curb the rising number of deaths on\u00a0Lake Victoria. This milestone was highlighted during the\u00a01st Extraordinary Sectoral Council of Ministers and Permanent Secretaries\u00a0of the\u00a0Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC)\u00a0held in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122755\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}