Is this end of the road for Mbita Causeway?

By Nicholas Anyuor

David Onyango, 40, is busy lifting passengers and goods over the murky shoreline in Mbita Causeway, onto the solid grounds for a paltry wage of Sh10 per trip.

Three years ago, he was a fisherman on Lake Victoria’s Winam Gulf but gave up because fish was getting scarcer in the lake.

The depleted fish stocks were attributed to murky water and algae, some of the negative environmental impacts that experts say were triggered by the erection of the Mbita Causeway.

Ironically, the causeway, which was built in 1983, was meant to help save the residents, many of who had been swept by the strong currents in the lake between Mbita and Rusinga Island.

The dirt and algae deposits make boat navigation difficult. Photo: James Keyi/Standard

Now the causeway is turning from saviour to a tormentor on Africa’s biggest inland lake: it is becoming a barrier strangulating life out of the lake, quite literally.

The gulf side, which covers about 100km of the lake, has been cut off from the main lake after the construction of the causeway.

As a consequence, the lake is smelly, murky and full of algae. This, experts say, has interfered with the flow of water and circulation of oxygen. The latter has occasioned death of certain fish stocks that thrive on huge amounts of oxygen.

Water specialist at Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LAVEMP) John Okungu says the best thing is to partly demolish the causeway to allow free movement of water, and improve the circulation of oxygen.

Fish survival

He adds that the Winam Gulf, which serves Kisumu, Rachuonyo North, Homa Bay, Mbita and Suba districts, has dirty water that’s dangerous for fish survival.

"The main lake, which lies in Uganda, Migingo and Tanzania, has vast quantities of fish. But the lake on our side is dirty," Okungu says, adding that the dirty water is due to the causeway blocking the strong currents, which are important in the filtration of the lake water.

Specialists explain that when the currents are strong, they help reduce pollution that comes from deposits of fertilizers, residues and pesticides from the nearby factories and rivers.

The residues also come with nutrients that form good breeding ground for algae, which use a lot of oxygen at night, forcing fish species that require more oxygen, such as Nile perch to die and decline in population.

"It’s hard to find a lot of tilapia and Nile perch in the gulf side. Most of the fish that survive are only the cat fish and mud fish due to papyrus bushes around here," Okungu explains.

The gulf is currently served by eight rivers: Lambwe, Awach Tende, Kibuon, Sondu Miriu, Nyando, Kibos, Awach Seme and Kibos.

Breeding grounds

However, the water from the rivers cannot pass into the mainland due to the causeway. It then forms deposits, which are harmful.

These, according to East African Community’s Lake Victoria Basin Commission Maritime Transport, Safety and Security Officer, Gerson Fumbuka, are breeding surfaces for some harmful worms to people using the lake water.

"The water is not fresh. It will also make the lake recede and in the next few years, people will be looking for the lake," he warns.

"When you leave this place after walking on the deposits, you feel itchy and then the feet become painful," confirms Francis Ochieng, a fisherman.

The East African Community Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), visited the Mbita Causeway last week to explore how it can be demolished.

Feasibility study

LVBC Executive Secretary Tom Okurot says the Commission is going to carry out a feasibility study and come up with recommendations on why and how Kenyan Government should demolish the causeway.

The study, which is expected to be ready in six months, would expedite removal of the causeway.

"The causeway is now an environmental hazard on the lake and the people depending on its waters. This is why it should be demolished. But we shall leave the task to Kenya after completing the study," Okurot says.

However, the residents are appealing to the Government to ensure that a bridge is built so that they can use it in place of the causeway.

Marine balance

The Mbita Beach Management Unit Vice-Chairman Charles Odalo says many people died before the causeway was erected because of the strong currents and it should not be demolished before a bridge is put in place.

But once again, Kenyans’ inability to plan is proving to be their bane.

For is the causeway is finally brought down to restore marine balance that it has triggered, the costs will be astronomical as even demolition will still be costly, not to mention the billions spent in its construction.