A sorrowful mood engulfed the fishing fraternity of Lake Naivasha as two bodies of the three fishermen that drowned in the lake over the weekend were retrieved on Tuesday.
Naivasha Sub-County Fisheries Officer Nicholas Kagundu while confirming the incident said the three youth drowned after their makeshift boat capsized as strong winds swept the area.
The two recovered bodies have been identified as that of Jack Ma and Evans Karanja while the other third missing being Emanuel Oduor, all aged below 30 years.
Kagundu said the two bodies retrieved this morning were taken to Naivasha hospital awaiting postmortem to establish the cause of death as a unit of officers intensify the search for the third body.
The fisheries officer said on board the ill-fated vessel were five occupants conducting illegal fishing activities in Lake Naivasha on Saturday night where only two managed to survive.
He said that the boat they were in was operating without required permits outside the operating hours and has already been confiscated as investigations into the incident continue.
According to one of the officers from the Kenya Coast Guards Services (KCGS) involved in the search jointly, they have intensified patrol operations to weed out illegal fishing on the lake.
The officer who sought anonymity said the use of sub-standard makeshift fishing vessels has been identified as one of the major causes of fatal accidents with 22 lives lost this year alone.
“We are conducting a 24-hour patrol and surveillance operations to tame the increasing vice”, said the officer.
The officer called for stringent fines for the offenders by the Judiciary noting that suspected culprits have been slapped with lenient and affordable fines dealing a big blow to the already overstretched unit.
He called for a joint collaboration with Beach Management Units to enforce surveillance in the five beaches on the lake.
By Erastus Gichohi
