Kisumu residents living in fear as attacks by hippos from Lake Victoria increase

As the world over suffers the ravages of climate change, the rising levels of Lake Victoria in Kisumu County have not only caused displacement and destruction of farmlands, but increased the risk of attacks from crocodiles and hippos looking for pasture.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, compensation claims from human wildlife conflict hit a record Ksh.1.5 billion in 2023, owing to shifts resulting from climate change.

At Kamnwa village in West Nyakach ward, Kisumu County, shadows of grief still lurk around the homestead of 49-year-old George Ochieng.

At a corner, in the homestead, the grave of his 16-year-old son Sylvance Oluoch Otieno is still fresh; Sylvance met his death on February 19, 2023 at the banks of River Sondu.

“Mtoto wangu alikuwa amepeleka ngombe kunywa maji...ilikuwa kitu kama saa sita hivi mchana...ndiposa akavamiwa na huyo mnyama akauwawa,” recalls Mr. Ochieng.

A portrait he holds in his hand is the only remaining physical memory of dreams cut short by the marauding hippos that lay terror in Kamnwa village.

“Alikuwa Class 8, alikuwa anafaa kusit hii mwaka apate results...na huyo mtoto was index one in their school...nilikuwa naamini angeenda shule kubwa,” he adds.

Metres away, 48-year-old Meshack Onyango shares a tale of how he brushed shoulders with death.

At around 10pm in February 2023, what Meshack thought would be a routine inspection of his cow shed turned out to be a brutal encounter that almost robbed him of his life.

“Kutembea namna hii nikaona tu hippo moja...kujaribu kuifukuza kumbe mtoto wake ilikuwa upande moja...baadaye akaniuma tumbo mara ikatoka nikaanguka nikaanza kupiga kelele...kwa bahati mbaya ama mzuri kulikuwa na fence ingine ile side akatoroka,” he says.

Though lucky to be alive, a dislocated shoulder and an invasive wound that is yet to heal have left Meshack unable to farm and he has since sold all his cows to fend for his family.

“Saa hii kwanza vile dunia ni ngumu...mimi nilikuwa naweza pata ata elfu ishirini kwa mwezi...saa hii ata elfu mbili pekee siwezi pata, sababu ile naomba saidia saidia...saa ingine mimi ata nalala njaa nangojea kesho kama Mungu anaweza fungulia mimi njia,” he narrates.

According to data from the Ministry of Tourism, compensation claims from victims of human wildlife conflict hit an alarming Ksh.1.5 billion in 2023, compared to Ksh.400 million between 2020 and 2021.

The ministry attributes the increased number to the competition for resources after the country suffered a dry spell in 2022, forcing animals to seek food and water in human settlement areas.

In Kisumu County, the rising levels of Lake Victoria gobbled up riparian areas leading to a fierce competition for man and beast over the shrinking arable land.

“Ata juzi baada ya kuzika mtoto nilikuwa nimeweka viazi karibu kumi...walikuja mpaka wakavunja fence...wameshanipea hasara...sio hippo kama ya zamani, hizi ni jasiri...saa ingine unaenda kuchunga ukirushia ata kitu inakuangalia tu hivi,” Mr. Ochieng notes.

And with countries resolving to operationalize the loss and damage fund during the recently concluded COP28, communities like the one at West Nyakach in Kisumu are hoping to get some reprieve for the calamities they face as a result of climate change.

Francis Orao, the Chairman of the Sango Rota Beach Management Unit, says: “The government can perhaps look at a way of maybe fencing the shore using electric fence, and protection of the riparian area should also be a task for the community so that when these animals come out, they can be feeding at the riparian area then they just go back without going to the farms outside.”