The hunters of fishermen? Daring gang inside Lake Naivasha wrecks havoc

NAKURU, Kenya, Dec, 4 – A fisherman was Friday morning nearly hacked to death by illegal fishermen dubbed, “poachers” , his boat burnt, while three of his colleagues sustained injuries at the Kamere landing beach on Lake Naivasha.

The attacks, according to reports, have become frequent in recent months as fishermen are attacked, robbed of their catch and often left beaten up by the marauding gang.

According to the Kamere landing beach chairman Wesley Kimutai, the poachers attacked the fishermen using crude weapons and upon a violent confrontation, they almost left one of their colleague dead.

“They were just doing their job while on the waters they encountered a boat that was not registered nor licences. Once they got near, the crew started attacking them, they took their fish and fishing nets. If that man was not wearing his fishing gear, the machete would probably have killed him on the spot,” Kimutai said.

Fishermen in the area have been forced to exercise extra caution while heading out on the lake as the gangs have also started tracking their fishing patterns.

“Our livelihood is now at risk. The nets they are stealing is very expensive. We want to be protected not left abandoned by the county government and security apparatus,” he added.

Fishermen told Shahidi News that since the fisheries department was devolved, the county government has failed to effectively improve their business environment at the same time leaving them to defend themselves.

“It’s either this responsibility is returned back to the national government or the two work together for the sake of the community,” a visibly agitated fisherman said.

The community fears that if the situation is not contained, chaos may erupt across the various landing beaches and fishing sites across lake Naivasha.

The government had announced earlier this year that the coast guard would be deployed across the countries various inland waters to tackle some of the emerging security challenges.

“We can not be working hard and a group of crooks are coming here to steal our livelihoods. This is unacceptable,” another fisherman said.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, cases of chaos at beach fronts targeting fisherman continues to be on the rise.