Close to 20 Lake Naivasha fishermen are in tears after the Kenya Coast Guards arrested them for allegedly breaking the law.
The arrests prompted leaders of four Beach Management Units to move to Naivasha Police Station complaining that the Coast Guards seized the wrong people "just because their boats are not sea-worthy and had no Kenya Maritime Authority certificates".
The intention was to arrest tens of illegal fishermen who have invaded the lake. Paul Olang, the chairman of Central Landing Beach Unit, said the 17 in custody had been licensed by the Fisheries Department and had been carrying out their business using those documents.
“For years we have advocated the arrival of the Kenya Coast Guards to deal with poachers but they have instead ended up arresting the wrong persons,” Olang said on Thursday.
He called for a meeting of the Coast Guards, county government officials and fishermen to resolve the issue "as tension is already building up".
He said they supported the deployment of the Coast Guards in the lake "but we want a meeting because we feel we have been unfairly targeted”.
Kenya Maritime Authority's Alex Munga defended the arrests, noting that many of the vessels were not sea-worthy.
“We had a joint operation with the Kenya Coast Guards in Lake Naivasha and we have managed to arrest boat operators whose vessels did not meet the set standards,” he said.
Munga cited lack of, among others, safety jackets - a critical requirement in maritime law.
- mwaniki fm
