An Island where prostitution and drug trafficking is 'legal'

In early July 2013, I made an eight hour boat journey from Mbita-Rusinga Town, in the western part of Kenya - to unveil the odds of an island in Kenya’s Lake Victoria. In the blue waters of Lake Victoria sets Remba Island which is located right on the North-South border between Kenya and Uganda, and just about three kilometers inside Kenya from Ugandan international border. Remba is a small and densely populated island of around 20, 000 people who are majorly migratory in nature, and whose economy is entirely dependent on fishing activities. The island is a cosmopolitan commercial place that hosts people from all over Africa. The majority of the residents are the Abasubas, the Luos and the Somalis of Kenya who make up to 20% of the total population, though there are also fishermen and traders from Southern Sudan, DR Congo, Tanzania, Uganda and from other African countries.“In Remba, we do fishing as the main economic activity though there are other businesses like shop-keeping, prostitution and even selling of chang’aa. There are also Masaais who offer us security and we pay them,” said Austin Omondi who is a fisherman in Remba Island.

At a distant glance, Remba Island is made of very many iron-sheet houses constantly being constructed on the limited land without any form of architectural master plan. Pathways exist anywhere and everywhere including dumping sites. “Earlier on, people used to build houses using mats which appeared too ordinary and weak. However, it’s easier for us to build durable houses using iron-sheets. All the tenants living in these houses must pay rental fees of between Ksh. 1000 to Ksh. 3 500 per month,” Austin Omondi explained. There are very many people who spend their nights in the cold shore of Remba island which is known as banda. This is because the number of houses constructed on the limited amount of land on the island cannot meet the demands of the people. There are some houses that can exclusively be rented twice within a period of 24 hours. The houses are referred to as “Usiseme” rentals. One can rent a house at daytime and another person can rent the same house at during the night. Usiseme which means, “Don’t say it” – are mainly used by people in ephemeral businesses on the island. There are some Usiseme houses which are only used by prostitutes and young fishermen who work at night and may need to rest in the day.    

Beach management unit records show that the island receives over four hundred new visitors, while over one hundred also leave the island each day break. The Beach Management Unit Chairperson, Mr. Odhiambo says that the unit lacks a clear record of the number of people who leave the island because most fishermen are transient in nature, and keep migrating from one island to the other depending on the availability of fish in any of the islands in Lake Victoria.