There is a way ‘but no will’ to get rid of weed

Casual workers remove the water hyacinth from the Kisumu Water and Sewerage Company’s (Kiwasco) water intake plant at Dunga Beach on March 8. Kiwasco MD Engineer David Onyango says the weed is hampering water supply, causing shortages and increasing the cost of supply. PHOTO | TONNY | OMONDI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Most Kamwala residents have abandoned fishing and taken to farming, while those still keen on fishing have to sail far into the lake to get a catch.
  • A waiting bay, constructed by fishermen to serve as the trading point, now lies idle, with access to it obstructed by the weed.
  • More than five boats got stuck in the lake during the first three months of the weed’s invasion, according to the Kenya Maritime Authority.

For decades, Kamwala Beach in Homa Bay County was a beehive of activity on which most of the fisher folk from Kendu Bay depended for a living. But not anymore.

The beach, said to be serve at least three villages in e Kamwala Sub-location, is no longer usable, thanks to the invasion of the water hyacinth, which has re-emerged in Lake Victoria.

Consequently, most residents have abandoned fishing and taken to farming, while those still keen on fishing have to sail far into the lake to get a catch.

The beach is a pale shadow of its former self, with its shoreline, which has been invaded by the weed and algae, having been turned into pastureland by the villagers.

A waiting bay, constructed by fishermen to serve as the trading point, now lies idle, with access to it obstructed by the weed.

Mr Aggrey Onyach, a 40-year-old resident, told DN2 that as a result of the hyacinth invasion, villagers have been forced to become innovative and seek other ways of survival.

“I was born here and watched my parents fish, a trade they passed down to me. This is our major source of income but the hyacinth has crippled us. We no longer look forward to going to the lake,” he said.

BEACHES AFFECTED

Other beaches in Homa Bay that have been affected are Ndhuru, Alum, Koginga and Rambira.

“Nobody comes here anymore. The few people you see around are looking for pasture for their animals,” Mr Onyach explained.

At least 30 beaches in Kisumu, Homa Bay, Migori and Siaya counties have been abandoned by fishermen and businesses after the weed re-invaded the lake last year, crippling marine operations, the residents and authorities told DN2.

Water vessels stuck in water hyacinth at the port of Kisumu on March 18, 2017. The weed has paralysed operations at this port with businesses losing several millions daily. PHOTO | TONNY OMONDI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

More than five boats got stuck in the lake during the first three months of the weed’s invasion, according to the Kenya Maritime Authority.

Apart from hampering fishing, the weed has been blamed for restricting marine transport and, and thereby, visits to tourist attractions in the lake. Businesses along the beaches have also reported losses after patrons abandoned the premises.

SHORELINE COVERED

Even the celebrated Nyanza Yatch Club can no longer host any sailing events because its shoreline is covered by the weed.

The latest invasion, described as the worst since the weed first appeared in the early ’90s, has also paralysed operations at the once-busy Kisumu Port.

Only a few vessels can make their way through the thick carpet that has engulfed the port.

There is little activity at the port, which handles goods from the East Africa states of Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, and at the inland container depot set up to facilitate trade through the railway.

The movement of boats and fishing vessels at the facility, which has been working below capacity due to neglect and low traffic, has also been restricted.

DISRUPTING BUSINESS
“There was a time when a ship from Tanzania took a good 12 hours to get to the port, a distance that usually takes less than an hour. That is really a bad cost to the vessel because it spends a lot of fuel,” said Kisumu Port manager Mwalimu Disi.

The weed, which has been increasing in the past three months, has also been blamed for disrupting businesses along the lakeshore, causing numerous accidents and discouraging investment.

A brand new hyacinth harvester worth Sh81 million lying idle in Kisumu. The government has been accused of not being serious about eradicating the weed, which has invaded Lake Victoria, again causing massive losses to businesses in and around the lake. PHOTO | TONNY OMONDI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Fish farmers practising caging in Siaya County said they lost nearly 100,000 fish in three days after the cages were covered by the hyacinth, denying the fish oxygen. They said it was also difficult for the fish to feed.

“Initially, the hyacinth was found only on the shores but due to heavy winds, it covered the 150 cages we placed, in the lake,” said Mr Ken Omondi, the secretary of the fishermen at Usenge Beach.

DISCHARGE OF NITROGEN

With each mature fish retailing at Sh150 at the local market, the loss is estimated at about Sh15 million on the higher side, considering that the fish were yet to mature.

“The problem is alarming and the population around the lake must now face the grim reality of survival after almost all their lives have been affected in one way or another,” said Mr Omondi.

Environmental experts say the discharge of nitrogen and phosphates into the lake by companies and farms in the neighbouring areas provide fertile ground for the water hyacinth to flourish.

“Studies have shown that 95 per cent of the waste goes directly to the lake, leading to nitrification, but also health concerns,” the United Nations Environmental Programme Executive Director, Mr Christopher Cox, said during the Environmental Research and Scientific Conference organised by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission in Mwanza, Tanzania, in February this year to discuss sustainable management in the lake basin.

ASSOCIATED WITH DISEASES

The weed has been associated with diseases such as malaria since it provides breeding ground for mosquitos, an increased incidence of coughing, rashes, and bilharzia, among others.

It also interferes with water treatment, irrigation and water supply, suffocates fish by deoxygenating the water and reduces nutrients for young fish.

However, some enterprising people have decided to look at the bright side and have been making items for sale from the hyacinth.

Takawiri Enterprise in Kisumu is one beneficiary that saw a business opportunity in the weed.

“We make envelopes, seasons cards, gift bags, notebooks and furniture from the water hyacinth. We do not use chemicals,” says Mr Michael Otieno, the company’s director.

MAKE USEFUL ITEMS

He trained at the Kisumu Innovation Centre Kenya (Kick) and started his own company, and has been using the water hyacinth to make useful items since 2011.

The troublesome weed, some researchers say, has more than 20 uses, including making paper, furniture, strawboard, garden sets, silage, baskets, and fertilisers.

They say it can even be eaten as a high- protein vegetable.

ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru holding a basket made from the water hyacinth. Researchers say there are many uses for the weed, including making furniture, paper, boards, and even as food since it contains lots of proteins. Notably, its use for commercial purposes is illegal in East Africa. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

In a notable use of the weed, the body of Nobel Peace laureate and environmentalist Wangari Maathai was transported in a casket made of hyacinth and papyrus from Freedom Corner at Nairobi’s Uhuru Park to the Hindu Crematorium in Kariokor.

Mr Duncan Omondi, a furniture weaver at Kick, says they have benefited greatly from the weed, which has provided employment for more than 500 people in Kisumu alone, even though they are small-scale businesses.

COMMERCIAL PURPOSES

But despite these entrepreneurs efforts, what they are doing is illegal.

Under the Obnoxious Weeds Act, the East African Community has outlawed the use of the hyacinth for commercial purposes, arguing that it would encourage the users to encourage its growth.

Mr Eugene Muramira, the Lake Victoria Basin Commission deputy executive secretary, says that people using the water hyacinth for business should be discouraged to prevent the weed from spreading.

“No partner state has legalised the use of the water hyacinth because it falls in the category of obnoxious weeds.

If allowed, some people will even plant it in rivers, and this will cause total destruction. The issue of its disposal will also be questioned,” said Dr Muramira.

ERADICATE WATER HYACINTH

The government and the Lake Victoria Environment Programme (LVEMP) Phase Two have also been put on the spot for failing to eradicate the water hyacinth from Lake Victoria despite receiving millions of shillings to end the menace.

This is while a Sh81 million hyacinth harvester bought by LVEMP and the government is lying idle at the Kisumu Port.

MV Orion II prepares to dock at Kisumu port on January 27, 2017. PHOTO | ONDARI OGEGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

DN2 also learnt that another harvester — which the local people said was abandoned in 2013 — was at Kamwala Beach in Homa Bay County.

Increased pollution and lack of political goodwill on the part of the government has been blamed for the repeated invasion of the water hyacinth in the Kenyan portion of Lake Victoria.

Unlike its neighbours, Uganda and Tanzania, who share the world’s second largest fresh water body, Kenya has been put on the spot over laxity in enforcing laws and punishing industries that continue to pollute the lake. Some of the industries have been accused of discharging cancer-causing metals into the lake.

INCREASED SILTATION

In another development, a delay in the construction of a causeway connecting Mbita and Mfang’ano islands has been linked to increased siltation of the lake, leading to pollution. The national government has, however, announced plans to have the causeway completed this year. 

Experts and politicians have blamed the continued invasion by the weed on the government’s lack of willpower to eliminate it.

They say efforts to eliminate it have been turned it into a cash cow at the expense of the livelihoods of the more than 300,000 people who depend on the lake.

Mr George Juma, a retired researcher from the University of Nairobi, who says he has invented a machine that can remove the weed, says the government has “given up” on the weed even before it making use of its engineers.

SIMPLE MACHINE

“I have designed a simple machine that can be connected to a tractor, for instance, and extended up to 300 feet into the lake to drake the hyacinth.

But when I visited the LVEMP offices in Nairobi, they referred me to their Kisumu office,” says the researcher.

“I can tell that the government has no will. Yet I have links with people in Venezuela who can produce the simple machine,” he told DN2 on phone. Although the machine can be produced locally, he said, his contacts could help acquire it cheaper.

The Water Hyacinth Surveillance and Control Strategy developed by the East African Community through the Lake Victoria Basin Commission, has a three-pronged approach to fight the weed: removal by hand, by machine, and a biologically using beetles that attack the weed.