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

Old fishing boats parked along the shores of Lake Victoria at Dunga Beach, Kisumu, where fish traders buy and sell their catch. [Rodgers Otiso, 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.