Lake Victoria's choking crisis: How pollution is turning Winam Gulf into a stinking hazard

Fishermen attempt to free their boat from water weeds in Lake Victoria on December 2, 2020. [Denish Oschieng, Standard]

At dawn along the shores of Kisumu, Lake Victoria no longer introduces itself with calm waves, fishing canoes or the soft reflection of sunrise across its vast waters. Instead, the lake now arrives with something far less welcoming. A smell.

Thick, persistent and sometimes suffocating, the odour rises from the Winam Gulf before the city fully wakes. It spreads across Dunga Beach, Nyamasaria, Nyalenda, Kisian and surrounding lakeside settlements, drifting into homes, fish markets, roadside eateries and even public transport stages near the shoreline.