Orengo urges gov't to engage Uganda and Tanzania to end harassment of fishermen in Lake Victoria

Orengo said it was deceitful for the EAC member states of Uganda and Tanzania to continue harassing Kenyan fishermen whenever they find themselves outside the Kenyan waters while on fishing expeditions in the lake while talks of a federation that will encompass Central Africa are at advanced stage.

He was speaking at Liunda Beach on Tuesday during the county’s World Fisheries Day celebrations. The celebrations were marked by several activities that included boat racing.

The governor challenged the national government to engage its neighbours over the matter and bring to an end the perennial cries of fishermen.

“Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are members of the East Africa Community and they have already started the process of forming a union or federal system that will bring together nations of east and Central Africa” said Orengo adding “the community if growing bigger, with Democratic republic of Congo, South Sudan and Somalia becoming part of the community.”

Looking into the future, Orengo said, it does not augur well that the common East African resource which is the lake cannot be used by citizens of the members states freely.

He said that so long as fishermen are harassed whenever their expeditions take them into neighbouring countries, then talks of an East and Central African federation will remain a mirage.

He challenged the East African Community states to do away with the artificial boundaries which, he added, do not reflect what mother nature designed.

The governor said that more than 30,000 people benefit from the blue economy sector in Siaya County, most of whom are fishermen and those engaged in value addition.

Orengo said that Siaya produced fish worth more than Ksh. 5.6 billion last year, with more than 30 metric tons of fish coming from Lakes Kanyaboli and Victoria and another 186 tons from fish ponds.