The commission is a specialised institution that co-ordinates development projects in Lake Victoria basin on behalf of the five East African Community (EAC) partner states.
The commission had since 2006 been renting offices at the Reinsurance Plaza in Kisumu at nearly Sh6 million annually before it moved to the former Nyanza provincial headquarters, Prosperity House, this year where the Kenyan government has allocated them the 12th and 13th floors in an agreement.
The government had in 2006 donated a 2.8 hectare piece of land in Kisumu for the construction of the LBVC secretariat. The piece of land bordering Lake Victoria, and the Kisumu Airport, remains idle to date.
LVBC executive secretary Said Matano expressed optimism after the EAC ministers issued a directive that they create a Headquarter Construction Fund to mobilise money for building the headquarters.
“The commission long finalised the business plan and office architectural design. We have therefore started raising funds internally and asked the partners to top up,” said Dr Matano.
China had in 2011 offered to build the offices, but lated backtracked on the pledge.
Earlier, the commission had approached the East African Development Bank which promised to loan them Sh500 million ($5 million) but the EAC ministers rejected offer in 2008.
A design kept at the commission offices shows a multi-storey office block with an executive boardroom, conference facilities with diverse capacities, restaurant, catering facilities and staff canteen as well as a residence for facility caretaker.
The plan also has an external and internal fountains, a flower garden and lawns, spacious car park and a pier for their research and navigation vessels.
The commission is currently exploring other options of mobilising funds including public private partnership arrangement and international donor funding.
“The issue is now top on the agenda of the Council Ministers of the East African Community. We are in discussion with the five member states, asking them to share the cost of the construction of the headquarters,” said Dr Matano.
“We are also in talks with our development partners including German, who put up the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania to construct the offices.”
