Water is life. It plays a crucial role in our bodies — from the digestion of food, circulation of blood, control of body temperature and the excretion of waste products.
Mass water is used for transportation, agriculture, manufacturing and energy. It plays a key role in stabilising the economy through activities such as fishing.
Kenya has large water bodies such as lakes Turkana, Nakuru and Baringo. We have a number of rivers and our southeast border touches the Indian Ocean.
In the west, we have a six per cent stake in Lake Victoria, which we share with Uganda and Tanzania.
However, the State has shown a lot of laxity in protecting this precious commodity. The government has failed to protect the sources, territory and people using the water.
For example, Somalia is fighting Kenya over a maritime boundary in the Indian Ocean.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in The Hague, Netherlands, will determine the ownership of an ocean block that we grew up knowing it’s ours.
The territorial dispute with Uganda over the small island of Migingo is yet another slap on the face for Kenya, clearly displaying a lapse on our sovereignty.
The series of occurrences in relation to this matter is continually drawing the attention of international sympathy.
The MV Faina ship, which was believed to be carrying weapons and tanks belonging to Kenya, was seized at the Somali coast by pirates in 2008.
Interestingly, Kenya was heard crying for international assistance via then-Minister for Foreign Affairs Moses Wetang’ula.
Authorities in Kenya have taken more than enough time to act, for instance in the recent incident at Likoni that saw the death of a woman and her daughter after their car slid off the ferry and sank into the ocean.
On October 21, 2017, a helicopter crashed into Lake Nakuru and, up to now, two bodies have never been recovered. Only those bodies that washed up were retrieved.
This is absolute incompetence and inefficiency on the part of the State. Kenya Navy and Kenya Ferry Services, among others, should act accordingly to restore the good image of this country.
Japan, China and India, among other developed countries, have massive water technologies to the extent of constructing an underwater railway.
Kenya, though a developing country, is however grappling with removing trapped bodies from the water. A shame, isn’t it? The State has failed in its role of securing our territorial waters.
On the other hand, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has shown weariness in its duty to improve operations at seaports on the Indian Ocean coast.
We should invest in technology and have a fully trained and equipped ocean rescue unit.
Most importantly, safety measures and techniques regarding hazards at sea, lakes and along rivers should be employed to avoid a recurrence of such incidents as the Likoni Channel one.
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