Nairobi — Legislators from the Lake Victoria basin have been accused of lacking interest in the region's development.

Mr Otieno Karan, a member of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala), said MPs from the region were only interested in political functions.

He told them that, as representatives of the people, they needed to act as channels of information on development issues.

"We need the leaders to pass information to the people," he stated.

Mr Karan was speaking at the Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu during the closing of the second Lake Victoria Basin stakeholders' forum on behalf of Eala Speaker Abdirahin Abdi.

Karachuonyo MP James Rege was the only legislator from the region who attended the opening of the two-day conference that discussed matters relating to management of the Lake Victoria basin.

"Fishermen do not even know the good practices that are sustainable to the lake and the MPs should help in changing this," he said.

However, the executive secretary of the Lake Victoria Basin Commission, Dr Tom Okurut, contradicted him, insisting that fishermen were aware of what to do for sustainable utilisation of the lake but did not adhere to the rules.

Mr Karan said although East African Community was supposed to be people-centred, many of the region's citizens did not even know about it and that even leaders lacked basic knowledge, such as the contents of the EAC treaty.

He asked the commission to partner with local authorities around the lake for effective management of the lake.

He said the commission needed to formulate policies and oversee their implementation because differences between partner states that should be undertaking the task hindered this.

Mr Karan's criticism comes only a few days after most of MPs from the region kept away from a stakeholders' workshop to discuss privatisation of sugar factories.