Lake Victoria: Residents turn once vibrant pier into bathing spot

Traders from Lake Victoria want an abandoned and dilapidated pier on the shores of Muhuru-bay, in Nyatike-South Sub county, Migori County, revived to open up business in the area.

Residents told Wananchi Reporting that the pier was very useful around the 1980s up to about the 1990s as it was used for ship docking with a range of commercial activities taking place between Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Mostly, the people traded in fish that would land at the pier to be taken to the neighbouring towns in the three countries.

The pier is now characterised by serious dilapidation and it no longer supports ship docking as it was the case years ago. There is gross theft of the metals that were used to construct the pier. This has happened at the pier gates, the sheet metals used in constructing the stores at the pier.

The tractor tires that served as landing equipment for the ships have since been stolen. In most cases, the theft of the metallic parts of the pier has been attributed to the booming Scrap Metal business in Kenya.

It is common for one to sight men and women using the area around the pier as a bathing spot. Further, the ecological niche of the shoreline has also changed. There used to exist herds of hippopotamuses around the pier area with a range of other water animals such as snakes, monitor lizards.

However, what remains today is about three hippopotamuses that occasionally lazy at the shoreline towards evening hours as they wait for sunset. Residents say that other piers at Kisumu, Homabay and Mbita have also ceased operations.

In 2019, the National Youth Service Trainees were engaged in bush clearing of the adjacent shoreline and the pier compound with word going around that serious renovation was underway. However, not much has been witnessed since then.

The area leaders have joined calls by the locals to have the pier renovated.

“Muhuru town is a significant town as it is in the border of Kenya and Tanzania and Uganda at some point in the waters. This is why there is urgent need for the feeder port to be reclaimed so that it reclaims its lost glory,” said Mr. Wilfred Wigesa Osara, a resident of the area.

According to the area Assistant Chief, Mr. Erick Suna, the poor state of the pier predisposes human lives to risks of drowning in the lake. His sentiments were shared by the area Beach Management Unit Chairman.