Two fishermen in Suba North constituency, Homa Bay County drowned on Tuesday May 7, 2024 in Lake Victoria during a fight over a fish breeding zone in lake Victoria.
The victims were identified as 25-year-old Enock Opiyo and 40-year-old Dancan Okoth from Uwi beach, who drowned on Tuesday evening during a physical confrontation with colleagues from Koginga Beach.
Confirming the incident, area chief Charles Ngoe said the problem began when a group of fishermen from Koginga invaded a fish breeding zone in Uwi, where fishing was prohibited.
Ngoe explained that five fishermen from Uwi Beach used their patrol boat in an attempt to stop their colleagues who were already fishing at the restricted fish breeding zone.
A confrontation started as fishermen from Uwi requested their colleagues to stop casting their nets in the breeding zone, but the other group insisted on fishing in the area.
During the incident, Koginga fishermen knocked their colleagues’ boat, forcing it to overturn and capsize in the lake.
Two fishermen died on spot as three others were rescued safely.
Meanwhile, a search operation has been launched to retrieve bodies of the two victims.