Security and harassment of fishermen on Lake Victoria, contested islands, and revival of marine transport are among the thorny issues residents and leaders from Nyanza are hoping will be addressed by the two heads of State planning to visit Siaya County on Thursday.
President William Ruto and his Uganda counterpart Yoweri Museveni will be among the dignitaries expected at the ongoing Piny Luo Festival.
They will be hosted by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga who officially opened the festival on Monday.
During the Piny Luo festival, members of the community will mostly engage in traditional practices meant to remind them of their journey through history.
But while culture will be the menu on the table, residents are hoping the two presidents will address several issues affecting them and those that have threatened to derail the cohesion and relations enjoyed between Uganda and Kenya.
Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga wants the safety of fishermen in Lake Victoria to be one of the main issues to be discussed during the visit by the two heads of State.
The governor said the meeting that will bring together leaders from the lake region alongside President Ruto and Mr Museveni should be used to end conflicts in the lake.
She said the gathering should provide an opportunity for leaders to address issues of safety of fishermen.
Ms Wanga was responding to claims by fishermen, especially from Homa Bay who have often complained of being attacked when they are looking for fish in Lake Victoria.
Security agencies from Uganda have often been blamed for being behind the attacks which have sometimes led to deaths and injuries.
Claims of illegal detention and torture have also been reported in the past with some fishermen claiming to have been forced to eat raw fish.
As of 2023, over 20 Kenyan fishermen were serving jail terms or were in detention in the neighboring country, according to reports by the Busia County Beach Management Unit.
In the same year, over 230 Kenyan fishermen were arrested in Lake Victoria for encroachment or fishing with kits that violated the lake policies.
More than 17 boats and over 32 fishing nets were destroyed for failure to meet the required standards.
The 230 included 42 fishermen who were arrested and 16 boats and engines confiscated by the Ugandan authorities at Lolwe Island in Siaya County. They were later arraigned before a Ugandan court and released on a cash bail of Sh25,000 each.
The fishermen accused the Ugandan authorities of treating them like animals having been kept for long without food or water, and were occasionally given raw fish to eat.
Ms Wanga said the platform should also be used to address emerging problems and wants the gathering to be used to solve issues affecting a section of the community.
She spoke at Ngeri Beach in Kaksingri West in Suba Sub-County when she handed over 12 fish cages to fishermen through an initiative supported by the Aquaculture Business Development Programme (ABDP).
Ms Wanga said cases of fishermen being deprived of their catch is one of the main challenges facing fishermen as it denies them an opportunity to make a living.
"Security should prevail in the lake and it should be a major agenda during the Piny Luo festival. Our fishermen should not be attacked and their fish should not be taken away," the governor said.
Homa Bay County Commissioner Moses Lilan said conflict in the lake is becoming more frequent within Kenyan waters.
He however pointed out that some Kenyan fishermen however attract these problems owing to their breaking of the law.
He added that it is the fishermen who fail to obey the law who often get into trouble when they cross over to Tanzania and Uganda.
"Our fishermen are fond of breaking the law when they are in the country and would try to do the same in Uganda. That is one of the main reasons they are arrested because laws governing fishing in the neighboring countries are a bit strict," Mr Lilan said.
The administrator added that security operators in Kenya have a structure of communication with Ugandans and Tanzanians on how to address the problems in the lake.
Mr Chris Owala, a human rights activist feels there are still many issues affecting the relations between East African Community counties.
He however believes that the security of fishermen in the lake remains the biggest issue that should be addressed immediately.
“There is continued arrest and harassment of Kenyan fishermen should be top on the list of things the two leaders should speak and act on,” said Mr Owala.
Other issues that the residents are also keen to hear from the two leaders include the wanton abduction of critics of both two governments.
There have been two incidents where Mr Museveni’s biggest critic Mr Kizza Besigye was abducted in Kenya and deported back to Uganda by the Ugandan authorities.
The incidents that happened in Kisumu and Nairobi have put to question the sovereignty of Kenya with many questioning how the government can allow that to happen under his nose.
Mr Owala, who is the Director of Community Initiative Action Group-Kenya (CIAG) felt that allowing authorities from another country to enter and abduct an individual, is a big security breach that should not be tolerated.
“When you see the government allowing Ugandan authorities to cross the border and arrest an individual, it tells you that no one is safe. The two leaders must come clear on whether they are respecting and implementing International Treaties and Human Rights conventions that guard against human rights violations,” said Mr Owala.
There have also been frosty relationships between the two countries when it comes to business especially surrounding Oil and stalled key projects such as the expansion of the Standard Gauge Railway which would ease the movement of products from Mombasa Port to Uganda by railway.
Mr Owala also wishes the two countries could improve Lake Transport and ease congestion at the border between Kenyan and Uganda in Busia where trucks take more than three days to be cleared.
Another issue is also the rising pollution of Lake Victoria where he proposes that authorities from the two EAC states can work together to eradicate it.
Locally, residents want the stalled construction of the Dho Goye bridge and expansion of Kisumu - Bondo Road to be revived and completed to ease transportation from Siaya to Busia Counties.
“We are now in the broad-based government. We should be reaping the benefits such as completion of the stalled projects such as the Dho Goye bridge and expansion of the Kisumu-Bondo-Usenge Road,” said Paul Oloo, a resident of Usenge in Bondo.
But Alego Usonga MP Mr Samuel Atandi however feels the platform should be used to celebrate cure and not be overtaken by political issues.
“Piny Luo is a cultural festival and it will give us an opportunity to showcase to the guests who we are as a community. I do not think it will be the right forum to make political demands,” said Mr Atandi.
Over the three days, Luo people will celebrate their traditional cuisines, rediscover and adapt the traditional cultures to modernity, engage in traditional games, and enjoy art, music, and festivities cherished by our forefathers.
They will also deliberate on the state of the Luo nation and chart a way forward in a rapidly changing world.
The festival will then end with the official opening of the Siaya Stadium where members of parliament from the region will play against Piny Luo combined in a curtain raiser match and then the main one between Gor Mahia and Kitara FC from Uganda.
