Uhuru orders security agencies to end illegal fishing in Indian Ocean

President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed security agencies to patrol the Indian Ocean and stop illegal fishing.

Speaking when he officially opened the Mombasa ASK show at Mkomani Grounds, the President said despite the huge fish resources in the Indian Ocean, there was nothing to show for it due to illegal fishing.

“Our young people want jobs yet our fish is being exploited by vessels from other countries. This illegal fishing must stop so that our young men are empowered to do fishing and improve not only the economy of this region but also the entire republic,” he said.

Earlier in his speech, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett said his ministry would invest heavily in research and patrol in the Indian Ocean to ensure that fishermen were operating in a secure environment.

“Currently we have one vessel that is patrolling and soon we expect another research and patrol vessel that will help us secure our territorial waters so that we are able to exploit our resources. We are also doing sea weed farming,” the CS said.

Noting that fishing was an important source of income that directly employs 14,000 people from the coastal communities, the President said the India Ocean fishing remains one of the dominant extractive activities in our marine waters.

“The potential fish production from Kenya’s Exclusive Economic Zone is estimated to lie between 150,000 to 300,000 metric tonnes compared with current production of about 9,000. The impact of the unutilized potential is clearly colossal,” Mr Kenyatta said, adding that with proper exploitation of these resources, more jobs would be available.

He said in recognition of this potential to transform the coastal economy and the lives of residents, he issued an Executive Order that intends to dedicate resources and technical capacity for Kenyans to obtain maximum benefits from the ‘blue’ economy.

The President directed Mr Bett to ensure that fishermen were provided with proper fishing gear, adding that the national government should work hand in hand with the county governments.

“Next year when we come back there should be results. We should be able to quantify what we have done. I want us to look at how many boats the national and county government will have bought for the young men to be able to exploit the resources,” he said.

The President said the reason the government had allocated Sh45.6 billion in the 2016/2017 budget was to ensure that agriculture played a key role in the economy.

“This money is intended to finance several initiatives aimed at improving our overall food production.  This way, we hope to achieve a lower cost of living through cheaper food,” he said.

“Key flagship projects which will receive these funds have been identified for their strategic transformative potential.  The first of these is irrigation.  We intend to invest in technology and expand our irrigation projects to protect our agriculture from seasonal fluctuation and adverse weather patterns by supplementing rain-fed farming,” he added.

In speeches that skirted politics, the President and his host Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho seemed to read from the same script, choosing instead to focus on the economy. 

Mr Kenyatta asked ASK managers to come up with proper programmes that would ensure proper utilisation of the society’s resources, saying that the agricultural shows should not be a “four-day event,” leaving the vast resources held by the organisations to remain idle for the rest of the year.

On his part, Mr Joho Joho asked the ASK to co-operate with the county government to ensure that the land at the show ground was well utilised.

“When we talk of setting up a convention centre in Mombasa, I don’t see a better place to build one than on these grounds. Let’s collaborate and see that we set up this centre here because this land is idle,” he said.

Mr Kenyatta, who rode in his ceremonial Land Cruiser with Mr Joho, visited several stands at the show including the one for Mombasa County government and watched the livestock auction where he bought a bull at Sh400,000.

JERSEY MONEY

On Wednesday night, President Kenyatta hosted more than 8,000 youth, women and elders from the Coast at State House, Mombasa.

The Head of State announced that Sh500 million recovered from Jersey graft case would be used to construct drug rehabilitation centres and safe houses for women to protect them from gender-based violence.

He emphasised that his administration will not relent in its war against corruption.

The President held the meeting ahead of a visit to several other counties starting Friday, where, accompanied by his Deputy William Ruto, is expected to tour ongoing key projects initiated by his Administration in the region to the tune of Sh100 billion.

“We are delivering the promise we made. We have constructed more roads, connected more houses to electricity and issued more title deeds in the last three years than had been done since independence,” said President Kenyatta.

President Kenyatta asked the residents to unite and work together regardless of tribe, religion or political party affiliation.

Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro and Mijikenda Community Council of Elders secretary Vincent Mwachiro said the region will support the government because of the projects it has initiated.

He cited some of the roads that the Jubilee government has constructed or repaired including: Kaloleni-Mavueni, Mariakani-Kaloleni, Maji ya Chumvi-Voi, Mwatate-Wundanyi, Mwatate- Taveta, Bamba-Mariakani,  Malindi-Sala Gate, Malindi-Garsen and Lunga Lunga-Vanga roads.

Additional reporting by Phillip Muyanga