Address security threats on Kenyan waters, senators urge state

Senators have asked the government to address growing security threats on Kenyan waters to safeguard local fish farming, which is increasingly being disrupted by security officers from neighbouring countries.

 Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Wafula Wakoli said Kenyan fishers operating on Lake Victoria are constantly harassed, with their boats and fishing gear confiscated.

 This is done under the pretext they have crossed into foreign waters — claims he said are often false.

 Speaking in Port Victoria, Busia county, during a fact-finding mission at the Mulukoba Beach Management Unit (BMU), the Bungoma Senator said the continued harassment has crippled local fish businesses, paving the way for cheap imports from China.

 "Kenya has enough fish for both local consumption and export. What we need is to empower our farmers by providing a favourable operating environment,” Wakoli said.

 “That’s why we are asking the government to address the security threats in our waters. We have no valid reason to keep importing fish from China.”

 Mulukoba BMU chairperson Joachim Omollo said most farmers in the region are engaged in cage fish farming and called for the reduction of fish feed prices.

 He also appealed for support to help farmers access insurance cover, noting that operating in deep waters exposes their lives and investments to risk.

 Omollo said farmers embraced cage fish farming due to the declining fish population in the lake and urged the government to protect them from foreign security personnel who routinely seize their boats and gear.

 He also called for the establishment of a fish processing factory within the lake region, arguing that it is costly and illogical to transport their catch to Thika town for processing — a practice that denies locals job opportunities and inflates fish prices.

 “We want the government to help us acquire boats because most small-scale fishers cannot raise the Sh250,000 needed to buy one.”

 “Such support would greatly boost our trade and reduce unnecessary fish imports from China,” Omollo said.

 Fish industry investor Magan Odero accused both the national and county governments of neglecting the sector, saying the absence of value addition facilities near production areas has left farmers vulnerable to exploitation by middlemen.

 Odero said middlemen make huge profits by transporting fish to Thika for processing, yet the bulk of the country’s fish comes from the lake region. He called for a processing plant to be established closer to the source.

 He also urged the Busia county government to revive its stalled speedboats, saying they could help farmers operate more efficiently on the lake since most cannot afford private boats.

 “It’s unfortunate that fish farmers in this region have not received sufficient support from both levels of government. Accessing markets is difficult and without a nearby processing factory, we miss out on value addition that could increase our profits,” Odero said.

 Busia Agriculture executive George Mukok said the county is working with cooperative societies to support fish farmers and help them maximise earnings, noting that the sector remains largely untapped.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

In July, President William Ruto and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed key bilateral agreements at State House, Nairobi, a day after Tanzania imposed a ban affecting certain Kenyan businesses operating in the country. During Museveni’s official visit, Kenya and Uganda inked eight new bilateral deals, bringing the total number of trade and cooperation agreements between the two nations to 25.