Turkana County Commissioner Mr. Jacob Ouma has called for a multi sectoral approach to address high levels of child labour along Lake Turkana.
Ouma was responding to concerns by heads of departments in the national government who had expressed concerns over the high numbers of children involved in fishing and related activities in Lake Turkana.
“Child labour is a time bomb which if left unchecked it will fuel insecurity in future,” said Ouma. He had convened a meeting with departmental heads in his office on Thursday.
Kenya Fisheries Service Assistant Director Mr. Jospeh Kasuti cited child labour and use of unapproved fishing nets as some of the challenges facing his department. “Child labour is rampant along the lake, we do not encourage it and we only issue licenses to persons above 18 years,” said Kasuti.
The Assistant Director said the lake has a potential to produce 30,000 metric tonnes of fish annually yet only 7,000 to 10,000 metric tonnes of fish are harvested annually and at the same time decried the post-harvest losses which accounted for 35 percent of fish caught in the lake.
“Lake Turkana has over 60 species of fish, yet only 19 species are harvested. Tilapia and Nile perch are the most harvested species,” he added.
Poor infrastructure and lack of electricity were also blamed for the low levels of exploitation of the lake and fishing sector. Use of undersized nets is another challenge in the sector.
Kasuti said 40 illegal nets were recently impounded and 11 suspects arrested
The Embassy of Netherlands last week pledged a 10 million pounds’ donation to exploit Lake Turkana which is shared by Turkana and Marsabit Counties.
In a meeting with stakeholders including officers from Turkana and Marsabit Counties, Dutch Ambassador to Kenya Maarten Brouwer announced that his country will invest €10 million for five years.
The Embassy has committed to supporting a co-finance of quick interventions as well as a long-term programme for sustainable development of the value chain.
By Peter Gitonga
