Fishermen: How we were trapped by Hyacinth for three day in Lake Victoria

From left: Fishermen Samuel Otieno (seated), Raphael Otiu, Kennedy Oluoch and Shadrack Ogutu at the Homa Bay County Referral Hospital on Wednesday night. [James Omoro, Standard]

When four fishermen set sail last Monday, they had no clue that a nightmarish experience awaited them.

Samuel Otieno, 31, Raphael Otiu, 36, Kennedy Oluoch, 27, and Shadrack Ogutu, 28, had heard from other fishermen that the waters in Kajimo were teeming with fish, and this informed their choice to cast their nets wider as the day dawned.

The four set out from Achich beach in Homa Bay to Kajimo in the neighbouring  Rachuonyo North only for the trip to be cut short when their boat got trapped in water hyacinth. And it would remain stuck for the next three days.

Although they had been on dozens of fishing expeditions before, nothing had prepared them for such an experience.

Out in the expansive waters of Lake Victoria with not a boat in sight, the men left their fate in the hands of God, hoping and praying for a happy ending to their troubles.

On the day they were finally rescued and brought ashore at Kamwai beach in Suba North, they were in dire need of medical attention and could not even muster the strength to speak.

The Standard team had to travel about 18km to the Homa Bay County Referral Hospital last Thursday for an interview with the fishermen about their ordeal.

Mr Oluoch recalled that about three kilometres from Achich beach, they found themselves surrounded by water hyacinth. They struggled to remove the invasive weed with their hands but their efforts were in vain.

Danderous weed

“We suddenly realised it was impossible for us to sail through the dangerous weed,” said Oluoch.

Stuck in the boat, they had to contend with erratic weather all day. The situation worsened at night due to dipping temperatures.

“The incident caught us unawares because we planned to fish from dawn and leave the lake during the day. We experienced very cold weather in the lake,” said Mr Ogutu.

The fishermen also discovered that the lake was home to more mosquitoes than they had ever imagined, making it impossible to sleep.

“I fear I could have contracted malaria,” said Mr Otiu.

But the bugs were the least of their worries. The men were also at risk of attack from hippos and other animals they could see moving in the lake.

“At one time I thought we would perish after seeing a hippo moving towards us. We prayed to God until it disappeared,” said Mr Otieno.

The men had carried ugali and fish to eat but this ran out on the evening of the first day.

Over the next 48 hours they drank the lake’s fresh water to slake their thirst. They also told each other stories to pass the time and prayed to bolster their spirits.

On Wednesday morning, the weeds moved the boat about one kilometre from land. The men took off their shirts and began waving them in the air to try and attract the attention of passing boats or people on land.

Their efforts paid off when locals spotted them and notified Homa Bay Town East MCA Juma Awuor, who contacted Eliud Onyango, the county director for disaster management.

Mr Onyango got in touch with the Kenya Maritime Authority in Kisumu who organised the fishermens’ rescue that evening.

Onyango and Awuor urged fishermen to avoid fishing while the lake was still covered by water hyacinth.

“I urge fishermen to acquire life-saving jackets to enhance their safety in water,” the MCA added.

Edward Oremo, the chairman of the county beach management network, called on the national government to set aside funds for manual removal of the weed.

Allocate funds

Speaking at Mirunda beach in Suba North, Mr Oremo said other methods of eradicating the hyacinth had proved ineffective.

“There have been several attempts to remove this weed from Lake Victoria but none has been successful. We are calling on the Government to allocate funds so people can remove it manually,” said Oremo.

He argued that physical removal would conserve the lake’s ecosystem as well as create employment for young people in Nyanza region.

Oremo also urged the Government to consider Lake Victoria a source of livelihood for local residents.

“The State has been very considerate in giving financial support to Kenyans living in coffee and tea-growing zones. We urge it to consider the fishing community too.”