April & August. 1999 
19 
source of life and therefore the threat to Lake Victoria, 
put in another way. is a threat to the livelihood of more 
than 30 million people who directly or indirectly benefit 
from it It is also important for a multitude of other 
uses As a common economic resource. Lake Victoria 
provides both direct and indirect economic benefit to 
the 3 East African states of Uganda, Ibn/ania and Kenya 
as well as numerous multiethnic communities Direct 
economic benefits are the provision of food in ihe form 
of fish for local consumption and for export (bringing 
the much needed foreign exchange) and water for pilot 
irrigation schemes, eg . the Ahero Irrigation Pilot 
Project for production of rice 
Numerous towns and cities which arc important 
centres for commerce and industries also owe tbeir 
origin and existence to Lake Victoria These include 
Kisumu in Kenya, Jinja in Uganda and Musoma in 
Tanzania, among others. 
The associated swampland within ihe shores on the 
gulf of the lake provide raw materials like reeds used 
for small scale enterprises like producing mats, simple 
furniture, baskets, etc . boosting entrepreneurial growth 
Navigationally. Lake Victoria is an important 
waterway that has accelerated trade within the East 
African region The lake traffic is high, with water 
vessels ranging from sieamers and terries to small boats 
and canoes. This increases the exchange of goods and 
services, promoting intra- and interstate commerce 
Tourism has been a booming business, as tourists 
are attracted to the magnificent scenery and animals of 
Lake Victoria Scenic areas include Ndcrc National ftirk 
and Kisumu's Impaia Park They also engage in other 
diverse activities like boating, swimming, birdwatching 
and sightseeing The indirect benefits coming from lake 
tourism arc employ ment in hotels and lodges, transport 
and fuel sales, shopping, revenue provision through state 
and local taxes, as well ns park fees. These economic 
Iwncfits, as lucrative as they are. will soon he placed in 
historical dustbins by the threats lacing the lake 
The ecological and environmental aspects of these 
threats is equally more disturbing. Lake Victoria 
maintains a unique biodiversity, it has a rich community 
or both aquatic fauna and flora. Among the faunal 
invertebrates arc the benthic or bottom dwelling 
organisms like the leeches, water mites, aquatic worms 
and aquatic forms or stages of insects, clams and snails 
Other fauna include zooplanktons, insects, amphibians, 
particularly toads and frogs, reptiles, like monitor 
lizards, turtles, tortoises and crocodiles birds and 
mammals, eg., the hippopotamus. 
The spice of life in Lake Victoria is however the 
fishes, a group that has received the greatest attention 
because of the magnitude of their economic importance 
They arc categorised into four major groups based 
essentially on habitat requirements. Included in the first 
group arc the deep water fishes eg Bogus dt/anue. 
Morrynis kanaumme and the haploch routines Group 
two is largely confined to fishes that have the tendency 
to migrate upstream in rivers during rainy season, i e . . 
the anadromous species like Barbus altlanalis. Mud 
dwelling fishes which interestingly are capable of staying 
buried in the mud for long periods during the dry seasons 
fall into the third group, herein are also included fishes 
like i he Protopterus aelhiopicus and Clarias sp. The 
fourth group has minimal presence in Lake Victoria 
and more often than not arc present more by accident 
than by design, they are river and stream dwellers eg. 
Barbus amphigmma 
Finally, as a tool for research, the scientific 
importance of Lake Victoria is unrivalled both in 
immensity and quality as it provides scientists and 
scholars with unequalled opportunities to study, among 
other disciplines, patterns and processes of evolution 
In my view, adequate measures need to be put in 
place to curtail the degradation and initiate the 
restoration of Lake Victoria to its past glory. I would 
not hesitate to recommend the following steps and 
measures to help curb the problems 
To decrease pollution, all sewage wastes disposed 
into the lake must be accorded thorough pre- disposal 
treatment and only disposed at safe levels For this to 
succeed modem sewage treatment plnnts should he 
constructed in all ihe major urban centres along tlic 
lake shores Kroplc living in the rural areas within ihe 
lake basin must be encouraged to build and use pit 
latrines 
All effluents produced by industries, factories and 
other plants must also be treated before being released 
This process should be monitored by the governments 
who should in mm ensure that the companies involved 
adhere strictly to the requirements and those that do 
not meet the specified standards must be reprimanded 
and punished 
Pollution may also be drastically reduced by the 
halting of swampland reclamation and clearance since 
these regions aci as buffer /ones In addition ripanan 
/ones of the inflow' rivers should be left intact to ensure 
control and put checks on the flow’ of agricultural 
fertilisers, fungicides, pesticides, etc . into these rivers 
and subsequently into the lake itself 
Promotion of commercial fish fanning within the 
lake basin would be an alternative to fishing from the 
lake and this would alleviate the current overfishing 
Governments and other financial institutions should 
provide an impetus for this through the provision of 
soft loan facilities to fish farmers and co operative 
societies to undertake this proposal In addition, 
promotion of captive propagation as well as the 
establishment of fish nature reserves arc other alternative 
methods that are capable of changing ihe trend 
Aquarium and archival exhibits, if set up. would promote 
know ledge about the lakes fisheries, thereby helping to 
create awareness of the problems afflicting ihe fishing 
industry 
Fish breeding zones should be protected to reduce 
the impel of interference on their breeding piterns 
and ensure species sustainability. These measures, if 
adequately put in place, would address the problem of 
over* fishing. 
The most pressing problem that needs immediate 
attention and solution is the water hyacinth menace In 
tackling this issue, we have three principle options, t e 
