Fort Jesus, Vasco da Gama pillar at risk over rising sea levels

The iconic Fort Jesus, which took 3 years to complete and has been standing for over 400 years, was built to secure the safety of Portuguese nationals living on the east coast of Africa when it was captured by the Omanis who used it as barracks and later captured by the British who used it as a prison before it was declared a national park in 1958.

67-year-old Hassan Mohammed Hassan, who is a retired educator at Fort Jesus is now worried of losing the fort as a result of the rising sea levels.

“There is a situation to correct immediately at Fort Jesus,” he says.

Fatma Twahr, the principal curator of Fort Jesus says the huge volumes of water have been weakening the Fort Jesus.

“Aside from rise in sea level and erosion that comes from it, is that climate change also brings about unpredicted rainfall, intense rainfall that that comes from upstream, this rainfall is mainly felt by our sites as it discharges to the sea , rainfall coming in huge volumes through the site also weakens the physical fabric of the site, so rainfall from the top erosion from the bottom, our sites are at a major risk right now as a result of climate change,” he said. 

In Kilifi town, the iconic Vasco da Gama pillar, built in 1498 is the oldest remaining Portuguese architectural treasure in the tropical Africa. 

Its existence is however threatened by the rise in sea level and the strong coastal tides and is on the verge of being submerged into the sea.

“Malindi town itself today is not where it was during the time of the Portuguese, part of it has been taken by the sea, we have about 200m of Malindi town which now lie under the water, that’s a landscape, historical site but a city,” Caeser Bita, an underwater archeologist, tells us.

At the Vasco da Gama pillar, the water levels have raised tremendously and could pose a risk to those nearby, the effects of the strong tides cannot be ignored.

Twahir notes that For Fort Jesus, has been experiencing regular erosion along the sea front where by a good portion of the front of the fort seats right on the high water mark. 

“It has been experiencing that erosion on its base every now and then, there was need for us to collect the rocks that have been eroded and put them back as in you cement them back, but of course that’s a temporary solution because they will still be impacted by erosion,” he says. 

The National Museums of Kenya in the year 2020 embarked on the construction of a Ksh.60 million concrete sea wall which has however not been sufficient to provide the support to the pillar as it was intended.

The walls have been overcome by the strong ocean tides and barely two years down the line, part of the wall is already washed away, exposing the pillar and sending a louder message that more money is needed to try and save the pillar.