Lake Victoria fishermen’s long wait for 470km Ring Road

Sare Beach in Suba sub-county is one of the most isolated fish landing sites on Lake Victoria in Homa Bay County.

It is so remote that sometimes mobile phones develop network problems because of the long distances to the nearest telecommunications mast.

Despite being disconnected from the rest of the county, fishermen who operate at the beach are the happiest lot on Lake Victoria.

A lot of fish from the lake consumed in towns like Nairobi comes from the water around the beach, which has more favourable conditions that promote the growth of fish.

All fish is collected at the beach before being sold to buyers who arrive with refrigerated lorries, making the trading centre one of the busiest fishing sites in Homa Bay.

But all the advantages that the fishing community has are yet to be exploited, because of the bad roads in the area.

Fishermen in Nyanza are waiting on the government to build the proposed 470km Lake Victoria ring road to make their lives better, and delays in kick-starting the project worries them.

There was hope that the road would eradicate the problems facing the fishing community when they take their produce to the market, besides boosting the economic status of towns on the shores of the lake.

In its design, the Sh70 billion road is meant to connect Bumala in Busia on the border with Uganda to Muhuru Bay in Migori on the border with Tanzania.

Other areas it will connect include fishing towns in Busia, Siaya, Kisumu, Homa Bay and Migori as it accelerates the free flow of goods, especially fish from the lake to markets across five counties.

To get to Sare in Homa Bay, for instance, drivers collecting fish must navigate through bumpy and rocky roads that often leave delivery trucks with multiple mechanical problems that cost a lot to repair.

There are only two routes to the beach and they are both rough roads.

Often you will meet drivers stranded on roadsides with burst tyres, broken shock absorbers or springs and other mechanical problems associated with bad roads.

From Homa Bay town to Sare, drivers can choose to travel to Sori town in Nyatike constituency before going to the beach while enduring difficulties.

Vehicles can also go through Ruma National Park and then to Magunga before going to the beach.

The road from Rodi Kopany to Sori is one of the worst in South Nyanza, with big potholes.

No sooner had workers completed building it in 2016 than it started developing cracks and potholes.

Truck drivers take up to two hours to cover a distance of 30km.

Suba Beach Management Unit chairman William Onditi said the distance between Sori and Sare beach is only 26km but it takes five hours for drivers to travel between the two areas.

Fuel consumption

On a tarmac road, a truck travelling at 80km per hour over the same distance would take less than 20 minutes to get to its destination.

To compensate for lost time, truck drivers must carry more ice to keep the fish fresh.

This increases the weight of the truck, translating to more fuel consumption.

"More ice also means less space for carrying fish, which is a loss to fishermen,” Mr Onditi said.

Besides drivers who collect fish in large quantities, some traders supply fish to local markets like Sori, Ndhiwa and Magunga, mainly using motorcycles or Toyota Proboxes.

After the fish is put in ventilated woven baskets, they have to speed on the dusty road to deliver it to the market before it rots.

Riders charge up to Sh700 to transport fish between Nyandiwa and Sori. Traders must part with an additional Sh500 for their own transport.

"On a tarmac road, the same journey would cost Sh250 on a motorbike and Sh100 by car. In the end, all the increased transport cost is passed on to the buyer, which makes consumption of fish a very expensive affair," Mr Onditi explains.

Fishermen in other beaches like Sindo Gateway, Wadianga, Litare, Nyapuodi also undergo the same problems as they transport fish to the market.

It is a reflection of what is happening in Migori and Siaya counties.

Infrastructural challenges near the lake have caused the fishing communities to lag in development.

Some of the fishing towns also don’t have banks and fishermen often keep their money in their houses.

Appropriate time

Other than supporting economic activities, the proposed road will ease movement to hospitals and access to other social amenities.

However, the idea of building the road is still on paper, with the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) saying the agency will make an announcement about progress on the project soon.

"The matter will be addressed at an appropriate time," KeNHA corporate communications officer Charles Njogu told Nation.Africa.
Fishermen said the delays in the project would continue hurting them economically and socially.

Lake Victoria Beach Management Unit chairman Tom Guda said failure by the government to start the project will make towns on the shores of the lake like Kendu Bay and Sindo lag in development.

A good road network, he said, will open up more economic activities on the shores.

In his 2021/22 financial year budget speech, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani announced that the government had set aside Sh325 million for rehabilitating fish landing sites.

Fishermen welcomed the news, saying the allocation would enable them to restore fishing in areas where the docking of boats is currently not possible after several beaches were submerged by the rising lake waters.

Mr Guda, however, said the allocation was just a drop in the ocean.

But there is some hope, especially for fishermen in Homa Bay as the government has begun the building of other roads along the shore.

National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi said work on the 72km Mbita-Sindo-Magunga-Sori road had started after the project stalled more than three years ago.

The Sh2.8 billion road that connects Homa Bay and Migori counties on the lake shore is expected to be launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta after the contractor, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, was given Sh130 million to continue the work from where the previous contractor abandoned the project.

Project is yet to begin

President Kenyatta is expected to officially launch the project when he visits South Nyanza again this year.

“I had an opportunity to speak about infrastructure when we met the President at State House ahead of Madaraka Day celebrations in Kisumu,” Mr Mbadi said.

“I mentioned some of the key roads that we, leaders from Nyanza, wanted to be constructed, including the road that connects Migori and Homa Bay along the lake.”

The MP said a total of Sh8.5 billion had been allocated for some of the roads that leaders from Nyanza wanted to be improved.

During the 2017 election campaigns, President Kenyatta, while on a tour to Mbita town, promised that his government would build the Rusinga Ring road, which is also an important road to fishermen.

The project is yet to begin.

Mr Mbadi said the road and Mfangano Ring Road are among projects they expect the Jubilee administration to undertake in Homa Bay County.

“We are pushing for the construction of more roads, especially the ones which were promised but were not delivered,” the MP said.

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