The Lake Victoria Environmental Management Programme is the largest Kenyan Expo 2000 Project. Phase 1 which ran until 2003 received bad reviews in an evaluation by the World Bank:  „ The overall implementation performance (outputs) is Moderately Unsatisfactory, and the achievement of the development objectives (outcomes) is Unsatisfactory. “

Unsatisfactory. Only “highly unsatisfactory” would be worse in the language of the evaluations. Poor marks prevail in almost in every aspect. And on the very fundament of the project, the gathering of data important for planning, the program failed.  „ Attempts were made to model factors affecting water quality without solid success. “

Presently Phase 2 is under way. It is slow too. The project’s termination had to be postponed two times, in all for four years. Stephen Ling, project coordinator in Washington says: “You have to understand that the size of the challenge and the complexity of the challenge. It is a process and not everything is working as quickly and effectively as you might like.”

In phase two it is five States (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda) within the catchment area of the lake (40 million inhabitants) who must coordinate and cooperate. A large number of institutions is involved requiring a lot of meetings among politicians, administrators and experts. The funds for Uganda were frozen for over a year because of the corruption due to unproper tender rules. And a report of the Swedish development organization SIDA lamented that the main administrative body, which is the “Lake Victoria Basin Commission“, was not working well, though efficiency was improving. The commission has to organize a total of five projects, financed out of three different funds. The funding is temporary though the task that lies before the stakeholders is one of generations.

In addition existing rules are not enforced. Like the fisheries laws for example. As I have found out myself for the radio documentary.