East Africa’s trans-boundary water systems are vital for regional stability, food security and climate resilience, yet remain
institutionally fragmented. This paper undertakes a comparative policy review of the water sectors of Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and
Uganda to assess the extent to which national laws, strategies and institutional arrangements enable—or impede—coordinated
management of shared rivers and lakes. Drawing on an analysis of legal texts, strategic plans and grey literature published between
2010-2022, we evaluate alignment with the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) paradigm and with regional
instruments such as the Nile Basin Initiative and the Kagera Basin Agreement. Findings reveal a common commitment to IWRM
principles, including basin-level planning, environmental flows and stakeholder participation, but significant gaps in transposition into
national legislation and on-the-ground capacity. Rwanda’s 2020 Water Resources Board Strategic Plan explicitly links water security
to regional cooperation and data exchange, while Uganda’s 2021 Water Policy mainstreams climate adaptation across trans-
boundary catchments. Tanzania’s National Water Policy (2002, updated 2022) emphasises large-scale irrigation and hydropower,
creating potential tensions with downstream riparians. Burundi’s 2011 Water Code provides an enabling legal framework yet lacks
subsidiary regulations for trans-boundary governance. Across all four countries, chronic under-investment in monitoring, weak basin
institutions and limited cross-border legal harmonisation undermine effective joint management. The paper concludes with targeted
recommendations for strengthening national–regional policy coherence, expanding joint financing mechanisms, and establishing
adaptive governance platforms that integrate climate risk and socio-economic equity into future trans-boundary water agreements.