Concern as Lake Victoria water turns green in Kalangala

A fresh mass of green algae, which looks like a green plant, has invaded the shores of Lake Victoria in Kalangala District throwing fishermen in panic and raising health concerns.

Mweena Landing Site, which is a business hub, and Lutoboka Landing Site, which is known for its tourism potential, are the most hit areas—a thick carpet of algae covering the entire shoreline in both places.

According to Mr Ben Mbaziira, a secretary for defense at Mweena Village, women who fetch water from the lake for domestic purposes are among the most affected residents.

“We still have residents fetching water directly from the lake and with the algae invasion they can’t use the water for drinking, cooking or bathing as it is smelly and also causes skin irritations,” he told this publication yesterday.

He further explained how the green algae has paralyzed the loading and off-loading of passenger cargo boats at the landing site.

“We have many youths who eke a living from loading and off-loading of boats, but they [youth] are now avoiding to step in the water, fearing to be diagnosed with health complications, which has affected their daily incomes,” he said.

Mr Swydi Kayongo, the chairperson of Kasenyi Landing Site in Wakiso District, said his area has also been affected. He said fishermen, especially those dealing in Tilapia, have reported reduced catches due to the algae vegetation cover.

“It’s hard to catch fish nowadays because it is difficult to fish in smelly water. Sometimes waves help to dissolve the algae and we get some relief and carry out fishing, but this lasts for a few hours before another layer of algae covers the lake surface,” he said.

Mr Allan Mutagubya, a senior entomologist in Kalangala, said the algae mass covering the surface of the lake is a result of increased pollution from human disposal and industrial wastes.

“The poor waste management practices in Kalangala have further contributed to the growth of green algae, affecting aquatic life in the freshwater body. The green algae consumes a lot of oxygen during photosynthesis (a process of making its food), blocking sunlight, suffocating aquatic life. This is why fishermen often find dead fish floating on the surface,” he said.

Mr Rajab Semakula, the Kalangala District chairperson, revealed that there are ongoing efforts to enforce proper waste management and also bar oil palm farmers from encroaching on buffer zones.

“We are working with the environmentalists and oil palm organizations to ensure farming doesn’t further harm the lake... We are also devising solutions to waste disposal practices in the islands to see that human and agricultural waste doesn’t reach the lake.”

INVESTIGATION FINDINGS
An investigation conducted in late 2019 and early 2020 by the Nation Media Group with a team of scientists from the University of Nairobi across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania where the lake reaches, revealed that Lake Victoria is being threatened by human activities as it is contaminated at various points across the lake, making fish from the lake unsafe for consumption.

Various samples were taken from Kampala and Jinja industrial waste exit points, the source of the Nile, Masese Landing Site, Nakivubo channel in Kampala, and other parts of the lake across Kenya and Tanzania.

Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest freshwater lake. More than 40 million people draw livelihoods directly from the lake, according to the World Bank.