Homa Bay police identify killers of fisherman in Lake Victoria

Security officers in Homa Bay are looking for people who killed a fisherman after they disagreed over fishing methods and boundaries in Lake Victoria.

The county commissioner Moses Lilan said they have the established identities of the assailants after confiscating the boat used in executing the incident.

The boat is at Mbita police station.

“We have discovered the boat which caused the death had six occupants. The assailants disappeared and we have known them,” Lilan said.

Lilan wants the suspects to surrender before they get hold of them in an operation to eradicate the Abunglu fishing method in the lake.

The lake is becoming an epicentre of conflicts between fishermen over the Abunglu fishing method in Homa Bay.

It is a fishing method which catches all sizes of fish and targets breeding sites.

The method is considered illegal fishing since it depletes fish in the lake. It has always caused violence among fishermen’

The latest incident was witnessed on Tuesday when a fisherman died during a conflict at Kamwai beach in Suba North.

Fisherman Ronald Omogi, 30, died near Kamwai beach in the Suba North constituency.

Omogi died when they were attacked by a group of six fishermen they accused of practising the Abunglu fishing method in the lake.

The fishermen were also accused of destroying fishing nets. 

When they were questioned why their nets were being destroyed, the six fishermen began attacking them.

“They used their boat to hit Omogi’s boat before pushing him out and drowning,” fisherman Justus Opanyi said.

Opanyi managed to swim and was rescued.

The Chairman of Kamwai Beach Management Unit Joseph Atito decried the heinous act.

Atito attributed the death to the dangerous Abunglu fishing method undertaken in the lake.

Abunglu is undertaken using undersized nets which catch fish of all sizes.

It also leads to the destruction of fishing nets and other illegal activities in the lake.

Kamwai BMU Benard Otieno called on the government to end the Abunglu fishing method.

“Abunglu is likely to cause more deaths in this lake. I appeal to our government authorities to intervene in this matter,” Otieno said.