@robertomollo3
Police in Suba North want fishermen in Rusinga island beaches along the shores of Lake Victoria to operate peacefully.
This comes after some fishermen from Wanyama and Litare beaches were reported to have quarrelled and fought over the fishing boundary.
Some fishermen from Wanyama are reported to have attacked and injured those from Litare beach during a fishing expedition on Wednesday evening.
They were scrambling for a fishing area.
During the fight, some fishing boats belonging to men from Litare were also detained.
It forced security officers attached to the Kenya Coast Guard Services stationed at Mbita town to intervene.
Subcounty police commander Stanley Atavachi said he was forced to send some of his officers to work with the KCGS, to maintain peace between the two different groups of fishermen.
“Preliminary investigations established that some fishermen from Wanyama and Litare beaches disagreed on boundaries in the lake,” Atavachi said.
"We want them to operate peacefully because the lake is a shared resource.”
Wanyama and Litare are two beaches, which share boundaries and fishermen have been moving from one side to another freely.
It is reported that a group of fishermen put floats in the lake to act as boundaries since Monday.
Felix Abonyo who owns boats at Litare beach claimed the boundaries were put by some beach management officials, to deter them from fishing in Wanyama beach waters.
“The officials met secretly and agreed on putting up those imaginary boundaries. They did not involve fishermen and that’s the source of the conflict,” he said.
Abonyo said the fishermen who were attacked and injured on Wednesday evening were unaware of the boundary.
They were accused of encroaching into others territories. He said three fishermen sustained injuries in the fight and were rushed to hospital.
“We’re asking our officials to move swiftly and solve the matter. There shouldn’t be any boundaries in the lake,” he said.
Atavachi said the lake in Kenya has no boundaries and whoever is blocking some fishermen from the lake is committing an offence.
The officer said cases of attack in the lake will be handled as assault and they will arrest perpetrators.
“It’s illegal to create a boundary in the lake when you’re a Kenyan citizen. Let fishermen stop the conflict because they are committing an offence,” Atavachi said.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
