• The fishermen want the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) to enact laws to fast-track prosecution of suspected pirates.
• National Beach Management Unit chairman Tom Guda said fishermen have lost more than Sh10 million in recent attacks
Image: ROBERT OMOLLO
Kenyan fishermen want three EAC partner states that share Lake Victoria to fight piracy in the waters.
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania all share Lake Victoria.
The fishermen from Siaya, Busia, Homa Bay and Migori counties also want the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) to enact laws to fast-track prosecution of suspected pirates.
National Beach Management Unit chairman Tom Guda said fishermen from the four counties have lost more than Sh10 million in recent attacks
He said fishermen from Siaya, Migori and Homa Bay have decried persistent harassment by pirates and authorities from Uganda and Tanzania.
Last Thursday, fishermen from Sindo beach in Suba South constituency, Homa Bay, staged a demonstration to protest the killing of a colleague during a fishing expedition.
They said Ugandan security officials allegedly shot dead Okinyi Nguka, 28, in the lake.
Nguka and three other fishermen left Sindo on Wednesday to fish near Ringiti Island.
The four were in the lake the whole night, but on Thursday morning at around 7am, they were arrested by security officers less than 10 metres from Ringiti Island as they headed back to Sindo.
“Fracas started in the lake after the officers tried to stop them, but they declined. One of the officers shot Nguka,” a protester said.
Homa Bay Beach Management Units chairman Edward Oremo claimed the officers threw Nguka’s body into the lake.
“The fishermen wanted to ferry the body to dry land, but the officers grabbed it and threw it into the lake,” Oremo said.
The security officers confiscated seven boats from other fishermen.
Mbita subcounty police commander Stanley Atavachi confirmed the attacks. “We’re reaching out to the Foreign Affairs ministry to handle such matters,” Atavachi said.
Oremo urged the national government to find a permanent solution to the harassment of Kenyan fishermen by Ugandan authorities.
Late last year, two fishermen were killed by pirates on Mageta Island in Siaya county.
“Our fishermen have suffered heavy losses in the hands of pirates and security forces from our neighbours. It is time for the EAC partner states to come up with mechanisms to jointly fight piracy in Lake Victoria,” Guda said.
Oremo said the pirates were recruiting residents to engage in the vice.
“We have a government that has pledged to protect its borders and its citizens. We, therefore, appeal to the government to rein in the pirates and protect the fishermen in Lake Victoria,” he said.
Oremo said the main reason the Kenya Coast Guard Service was established was to offer marine security and protect Kenyan fishermen.
“However, today, a lot of their emphasis is on illegal fishing gear. We expect them to live up to their key mandate of patrolling the lake and to secure fishermen and their property,” he said.
Scared fishermen from five beaches in Siaya county have threatened to withdraw their boats from Lake Victoria due to increased attacks.
Kwoyo beach management committee secretary Jared Ogutu said fishermen have lost gear worth Sh1.5 million in one month.
The beach management unit secretary accused the authorities of failing to address the woes facing fishermen despite having received reports of persistent attacks.
He said Mageta Island reports an attack every week.
“The security of the fishermen and their property is left in the hands of the beach management committee," Ogutu said.
He said the committee supports and finances night patrols by police officers.
A single operation, according to Ogutu, costs Sh20,000.
“It is becoming difficult for fishermen to sustain night patrols and our appeal to the county and national government is to find a solution to end this problem,” he added.
The Star has established that vessels and fishermen's equipment stolen in Lake Victoria find their way to Lake Naivasha in Nakuru county and also in Uganda.
Anne Agutu lost her outboard engine worth Sh230,00 to the pirates on October 2. She also lost all her fishing gear worth Sh500,000.
“I took a loan worth Sh1 million from the bank, which I invested in the gear two months before the incident,” Agutu said.
Her equipment was later traced to Lake Naivasha. Suspects were arrested and the case is pending before a court in Bondo.
Joseph Otieno, the chairman of the Beach Management Unit network covering Usigu West ward, appealed to security personnel in Siaya to establish a partnership with their counterparts in Nakuru to break the syndicate.
Edited by A.N