This archive report was first published on 7 October 2019.
Water is the lifeblood of our nation, playing a crucial role in various aspects of our lives, from digestion and circulation to temperature regulation and waste excretion.
Kenya is blessed with numerous water bodies, including lakes Turkana, Nakuru, and Baringo, as well as rivers and the Indian Ocean coastline.
However, the government's failure to protect these resources has led to a series of embarrassing incidents, including the maritime boundary dispute with Somalia and the territorial dispute with Uganda over the island of Migingo.
As recently as 2008, the MV Faina ship was seized by pirates off the Somali coast, prompting Kenya to cry out for international assistance.
More recently, the tragic incident at Likoni, where a woman and her daughter lost their lives after their car slid off a ferry and sank into the ocean, highlights the need for improved water security measures.
The government's inaction in recovering the bodies of two people who died in a helicopter crash into Lake Nakuru in 2017 is a stark reminder of its incompetence and inefficiency.
Developed countries like Japan, China, and India have invested heavily in advanced water technologies, including underwater railways, while Kenya struggles to remove trapped bodies from its waterways.
It is high time for the government to invest in technology and establish a fully trained and equipped ocean rescue unit to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.
