CS Matiangi vows to protect Kenyan fishermen from aggressors

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i (left) with Suna East Member of Parliament Junet Mohamed during a fundraiser at Olare Secondary School in Homa Bay County on July 27th 2018. ( Collins Oduor, Standard)

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has said the government will deal firmly with foreigners harassing Kenyan fishermen in Lake Victoria.

He said the government is working on a raft of measures to safeguard the country’s security and economic interests at the lake that is a source of livelihood to more than four million Kenyans in Western Kenya.

Some of the measures include posting more police officers on the islands, opening more police posts and increasing marine police patrols on the lake.

“A time has come when the harassment of Kenyan fishermen working at the lake must stop,” said Mr Matiang’i.

He added: “It is unfortunate that when our fishermen go into the lake, they are arrested and their fishing gear confiscated.”

Speaking when he met the Homa Bay security team led by County Commissioner Irungu Macharia, Matiang’i did not however mention Uganda, whose officers have been hounding and arresting Kenyan fishermen.

Matiang’i’s tough talk come in the wake of recent reports of arrests of Kenyan fishermen by Ugandan security officials in Lake Victoria. Fishermen in the area have accused the State of laxity in ending their tribulations.

The CS, who was visiting Homa bay for the first time since he was appointed Interior CS, later went to Olare Secondary School in Rangwe for a fund raiser.