One cargo ship from Mwanza in Tanzania, forcing its way through the green carpet, came to a grinding halt as its engines overheated. According to Kenyan press reports, the rampant weed has resulted in hundreds of fishermen and transporters losing their jobs. Kenya's fisheries department, which lends support to projects to clean up the lake, says Kenya's portion of the lake at Winam Gulf, while small, is the most productive because it has several inward-flowing rivers. The Kenya Railways Corporation, which manages Kisumu port, has lost millions of shillings worth of business and has urged the government to declare a national disaster to encourage removal of the water hyacinth. Further south, the effect of the weed in towns such as Homa Bay and Kendu Bay has completely disrupted small fishing communities.
Local fishermen say no-one is interested in their plight.
No-one has been since. The surrounding land is dry and cannot support agriculture, so many local people are totally dependent on fishing and fishing-related activities for their livelihoods. The cost of their business has escalated. Unable to anchor at weed-choked landing sites, they have to land where they can, often tens of kilometres away from their homes. They then have to take public transport home.