Anyang’ Nyong’o, Kisumu Governor has issued an urgent call to East African Community (EAC) Chairperson President Paul Kagame to help resolve the floods crisis in the county that has since left thousands of Kenyans displaced.
In a statement on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, Nyong’o faulted neighbouring Uganda for the record high rise in water levels at lake victoria that has since wreaked havoc in the region.
The governor called for a restructuring of the management of Owen Falls Dam in Uganda which controls the outflow of Lake Victoria. He raised concerns that the Lake basin may continue to receive above-normal rainfall.
Nyong’o attributed the challenges faced in the region to the lack of proper controls of water flows at Owen Falls Dam in Uganda. This he says had caused the Lake’s waters to rise to record levels, submerging landing sites and homes.
“Under the chairmanship of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, I call on heads of the six-member states to sit down and ensure the natural flow of Lake Victoria is not interfered with.
“It is alarming that the water level is rapidly increasing and having impacts on various activities and communities around the lake,” Nyong’o appealed.
This came after 14 governors under the Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) embarked on an initiative to construct dams along rivers Nzoia, Yala and Nyando alongside dykes as part of a lasting solution to the perennial flooding problems in the region.
The regional leaders agreed that the dams would reduce the amount of water that flows into Lake Victoria.
The water levels in Lake Victoria have hit 13.42 metres, a record high, as reported by Daily Nation on May 19, 2020.
Results of an assessment conducted by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) released on Thursday, May 14, 2020, revealed that the level had surpassed the 13.41-meter mark recorded on May 5, 1964.
Following the onset of heavy rainfall across various parts of the country, the resultant floods have wreaked havoc in communities living in the affected areas. On May 14, Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa revealed that close to over 210 people had lost their lives to floods.
LVBC has since moved to propose measures to curb future effects of the disaster.
“We now have to take urgent action as over 200,000 people have already been displaced in Kenya and Uganda,” LVBC executive secretary Ali Said Matano stated, during a meeting with water experts from Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania on May 18, 2020.
“With the ongoing rains expected to continue, the water levels may rise further, aggravating more the challenges of flooding especially on the Kenyan side which has more rivers that drain into Lake Victoria,” he asserted.
Uganda Water Minister Sam Cheptoris stated that the backflow and rise in water levels at the lake were as a result of the emergence of several floating islands that had blocked River Nile, the only outflow of Lake Victoria.
In a statement on Wednesday, May 13, 2020, Cheptoris assured that the government would move to stop the islands or remove them once located by surveillance.
