The Chairman of the Nile Council of Ministers and Minister for Enviroment Nature Conservation and Tourism, Republic of Congo, Hon Jose Ebendundo Bononge
Honourable Ministers
Executive Director of the Nile Basin Initiative, Ms Henriette Ndombe
Representatives of Development Partners,
Representatives of International Organizations
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is my great pleasure to join you here today for this historic moment where we are celebrating 10 years of existence of the Nile basin initiative.
As you may all recall, it is here in Dar es Salaam that the transitional mechanism for cooperation was mooted during the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin Countries
The desire for cooperation of the Nile Basin States has long been with us and dates way back in 1967 during the hydromel survey programme which was limited to collection of data.
This was followed by several other initiatives that were geared towards promoting cooperation and development in the Basin,
These earlier initiatives played key roles in bringing us to the Nile basin initiative whose 10th anniversary we are celebrating today.
Ladies and Gentlemen
As we celebrate, we should not lose sight of the fact that people living within the basin have high hopes of realising benefits arising the from inestimable resources existing within the basin, indeed, the basin has a high potential for sustainable socio-economic environmental and political development .
My dream is to see our people live cohesively and our different cultures being the source of unity. We have the opportunity to be remembered by the future generations for having established a solid working relationship beyond our artificial borders that exist between us
We do have an opportunity to be remembered by future generations for having established a solid working relationship beyond our artificial borders. This Initiative among others can be credited for providing us with a forum for cooperation and engagements between riparian states.
This cooperation, not withstanding, our gains can easily be eroded if we do not seize the opportunity and act now, to exploit the enormous resource potential existing with in the basin. The heart of the challenge confronting us is the extreme poverty and climate change.
To overcome these challenges we need to take advantage of the potential for power production, food production and multipurpose water storage by investing our resources towards realising the development goals.
In Kenya, we appreciate the efforts Nile Basin initiative have made towards investments in water supply ,sanitation schemes, solid waste management capacity building and environmental protection projects. Although in a small way these projects contribute to socio economic development in poverty alleviation and enhancement of food security among basin communities cannot be overemphasized
However, it is my view that the Nile Basin Initiative and other players need to rethink its strategies especially on –project design and implementation in the incoming Institutional Strengthening Programme in order to have major programmes that have bigger impact in the lives of communities.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The Nile River Basin is a very important water resource to the people of Kenya and is key national and natural asset to the survival and development of Kenyans.
With a potential of over ninety billion cubic metres annually, Kenyan Rivers contribute 10 billion cubic metres annually flowing to Lake Victoria
The Lake alone harbours over 54% of the Country’s surface water resources and about 50%of the country population entirely rely on the waters of the upper Nile River Basin
It is against this background that the utilization of the water of Lake Victoria and the rivers feeding into the lake is indispensable and plays a great role in our development. We are making substantial investments in the management of water catchments in the basin in order to sustain better flows in the Lake Victoria and hence in the River Nile.
In order to effectively develop and use the share water resources there is need to have a level playing field that will allow for mobilization of the required resources for major development and that’s why we are rooting for the speedy conclusion of the Cooperative framework Agreement to enable us emancipate our people.
We appreciate the stage where we have reached in the Cooperation Framework Agreement process. However, there is need to move speedily in realizing a permanent sustainable for the Nile River Basin in order to ensure benefit sharing there is need to move speedily
Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to express my Governments commitment to the goals and aspirations embodied in the NBI and will continue to provide the necessary support for Basin activities back home.
Thank You
Hon. Charity K. Ngilu. EGH, MP
MINISTER OF WATER AND IRRIGATION