Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Magazine Ma | Page 16

People
In Transition

Eng. Philippe Lempérière passes away suddenly at 58
Philippe Lempérière, a Senior
Irrigation Specialist at the East
Africa and Nile Basin Office of the
International Water Management
Institute (IWMI) based in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, passed away
suddenly and totally unexpectedly on
The late Eng. Philippe the night of February 4, 2014.
Lempérière

Philippe was born in France in
October, 1957, where he was educated. His tertiary
training was in agricultural and rural engineering at the
National Agricultural and Rural Engineering Institute,
Angers, France (1981). In 1989, Philippe followed this up
with in-service training on agricultural water resources
development and management with the French Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Centre of Tropical Agronomic
Studies, Montpellier, France.
From this background, Philippe began to explore the
opportunities and challenges offered by working in
Africa. Over the subsequent 25 years, he had built-up an
incredible range of experiences and a sterling reputation
in water resources management and irrigation planning,
working in Somalia, Sudan, West Africa, East Timor,
Ethiopia and Kenya in farmers’ organizations, consultancy
firms and at IWMI. He was a consultant to, and conducted
projects for, several African governments (Burkina Faso,
Ivory Coast and Mali), the Eastern Nile Technical Regional
Office, the European Commission, the US government’s
Millennium Challenge Corporation and the United
Nations.
On the personal side, Philippe was a real enthusiast for
life, often masked by his humble nature. Some of his
enduring aspects and qualities were his dry sense of
humor, his incredibly caring nature and his love for his
family. Philippe is survived by his wife, Khalda, and son,
Basile.
The funeral took place on February 12, 2014, in
Maubeuge, France.

Uganda’s Vice President commends NBI
efforts in addressing energy challenges
He called on Nile Basin countries to take into
consideration the larger river basin context and ensure
optimization of the development opportunities as well
as efficient location and operation of the hydropower
infrastructures, while preparing their power development
plans.
H.E. Ssekandi was speaking as guest of honor during the
8th Regional Nile Day celebrations held at the Sheraton
14

Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • March - April 2014

The Vice President of the Republic of Uganda, H.E. Edward
Ssekandi has underscored the importance of joint implementation
and exploitation of hydropower options on shared water resources in
addressing the everlasting regional energy demands and challenges.
Kampala Hotel in Uganda on 21st February 2014. The
theme for the celebrations was ‘Water and Energy,
National Challenges, Trans-boundary Solution’.
“I am happy to note that under the ongoing cooperation
on the Nile, major regional water infrastructural
developments are being planned throughout the basin
such as major multipurpose reservoirs for hydropower
production and irrigation’, he said.
The Chairperson of the Nile Council of Ministers who
is also South Sudan’s Minister of Electricity, Water and
Irrigation, Hon. Jemma Nunu Kumba said with the
realization of the various hydropower development
and power pooling investment projects prepared by the
Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), the hitherto meager power
accessibility figures in the region are poised to rise to
acceptable levels.
The Executive Director of the NBI Secretariat, Eng.
Teferra Beyene was happy to note that NBI has built a
level of inter-riparian trust, confidence and a sense of
shared mutuality that hardly existed before.

President Rajapaksa launches new water
information system during visit to IWMI
His Excellency Mahinda
Rajapaksa, President of
the Democratic Socialist
Republic of Sri Lanka,
has officially launched a
new, hitech information
system that promises
to enhance water
management in the
South Asian country.
The Sri Lanka Water
Resources Information
System, developed by