Lake Ol Bollosat in danger of drying up

By James Munyeki

At the foot of the famous Aberdare Ranges in Nyandarua, lies Lake Ol Bollosat.

In the past, the lake has been known as home for hippos, over 200 species of birds and a source of water to River Ewaso Nyiro, which feeds the Nyahururu Thompson Falls.

But this is changing. The only lake in Central Province is on the verge of drying up.

This has mainly been blamed on the destruction of the Aberdare forest and human encroachment at the riparian land around the lake.

Central PC Kiplimo Rugut with other administrators look at the drying lake from a distance.

In the last one decade, Lake Ol Bollosat has now shrank from an area of 10, 000 hectares to 3,000 hectares.

The booming tourism business, curio trade at the falls and the hospitality industry at the major hotels within Nyandarua region, have tremendously lost business as a result.

Thousands of birds have fled the lake and hippos are reportedly dying each day. "The number of tourists has reduced by half in the last three years," says Joseph Ndirangu, manager, Nyahururu Thompson Falls.

This state of affairs at the lake is putting the Government and the residents around the lake at loggerheads.

Human activity banned

The Government is now blaming the locals for encroaching on the Aberdares hence causing the small rivers supplying waters to the lake to dry up.

Central PC Japhet Rugut in his recent tour of the lake decried the rate at which the forest had lost its cover.

He said that the forest had lost its indigenous trees as a result of the human settlement near the Aberdares.

He warned that if stern measures are not taken, the only lake in the region was on the verge of drying up. He consequently banned all human activities around the lake, as the first step towards conserving it.

The major ones include planting of eucalyptus trees and human settlement at the lake’s riparian land.

He ordered those who had planted the trees to cut them down, while those settling at the land illegally to be moved out.

The PC expressed optimism that the completion of the 400km electric fence would also play and important role in conserving the Aberdare.

The fence has now been completed at a cost of Sh750 million, thanks to the Government, Rhino

Cows graze on Lake Ol Bollosat

Ark Foundation and other wellwishers.

But a few months later, a survey done by The Standard On Sunday indicated that none of these orders had been implemented.

It is only a month ago that a group of internally displaced persons who were previously camping at Mawingu in Ol Kalou bought a ten acre piece of land at Kirima at the shores of the lake.

Despite opposition by Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni and his Ol-Kalou counterpart Erastus Mureithi, the victims maintained that the land was not a gazetted water catchments area and put up their sheds and camps there.

The MPs said that the 200 families should be evicted, as they would tamper with the proposed conservation exercise.

Human settlement at the area near the lake has also come with consequences. A rising number of human-wildlife conflict cases have been reported with locals being attacked by hippos.

John Mburu, a resident at Manguo in Nyahururu town says that marauding hippos have been sited within the estate at night.

"This has caused fear among residents as they no longer travel at night for fear of being attacked," he says. Mburu states that two people have been attacked by the hippos in the last two months.

Nyandarua Kenya Wildlife Service game warden Peter Lekeles, says most of the hippos get out of the lake in search of food.

"It is the residents who have encroached on hippo’s territory. The animals have nowhere else to get food and that is why they invade their farms and attack them at night," he asserts.

Enroachers to be evicted

He concurs that if human encroachment at the riparian land is not stopped, most of the wild animals will migrate to other areas.

"Already, we have noticed a reduction in the number of birds. This is a major setback for the tourism sector," he says.

But Western Central regional commissioner, Wycliff Ogallo, says that the Government is determined to conserve the lake under any circumstances even if it means evicting those who have encroached.

He says that already, a committee has been set up by stakeholders to find ways of conserving the Aberdares as well as the lake.

The committee is comprised of representatives from National Environmental Management Authority, Nyandarua County Council, Ministry of Lands and the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife.

The administrator observes that the committee is also mandated to map the gazetted catchments land.

"Those who will be found to have settled on gazetted land will have to move out. This includes the internally displaced families," he warns. "The ten-acre piece of land the IDPs moved to had been acquired illegally and sold to them without their knowledge."

He however regrets that efforts by the Government to force farmers to uproot eucalyptus trees from various water catchments areas had been complicated by legal barriers. He said that the law on the order was not clear and had been met with court orders.

Ogallo said that the Government had already planted some 20,000 tree seedlings around the lake through the Kazi Kwa Vijana initiative.

An estimated 200,000 seedlings are to be planted by the end of the year, Ogallo notes.

As the blame game between the government and the locals continue, the wild animals are watching helplessly awaiting their fate as the place they only call home is disappearing by the day.