864 Families Around Lake Victoria Left Homeless Due Rising Water Levels

864 Kenyan Families Around Lake Victoria Left Homeless Due Rising Water Levels

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in News January 22, 2022

Families on the shores of lake Victoria are in despair due to the rising levels of water on lake Victoria. This is apparently threatening to submerge their ancestral land.

According to a survey, 1,600 acres have been submerged by water in Kanyagwal location, in Nyando, Kisumu county.

Retired Ogenya Sub Location Assistant Chief, Nelson Onyango Abuor, has born the wrath of these rising waters. The bulging lake has steadily worn out his 7-acre piece of land.

His retirement home has also since been submerged, aside from losing his crops, livestock, and other household items.

“The rise in Lake Victoria water levels which started in 2019 happened so fast. It is sad seeing the home which I built using my pension submerged in the water. I had invested all my life savings on my farm and my home. All this has gone down the drain,” Mr Abuor stated.

Boniface Nyandeje, the Kanyagwal location chief confirmed that the waters have displaced at least 864 families. These families have since had to contend with living in camps and rented houses.

They have integrated others with families and relatives living in dry areas.

The waters have also disrupted critical facilities like health facilities, markets, beaches and schools in the region.

The rising waters sadly pose a threat of human-wildlife conflict and increases the chances of waterborne diseases like cholera. A surge in malaria cases could also be attributed to the rise in water levels of the lake.

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