Life has never been the same again two years later after water backflow in a Kisumu Village

A resident of Kabonyo/Kanyagwal Ward Gabriel Ochieng Kure escorts some young children to school after lunch. The road leading to Nyamrundu Primary school is impassable due the water backflow from Lake Victoria that was witnessed in the area for nearly one and half years and school going children experience difficulties in accessing the school.

By Dickson Odhiambo

January 20, 2022

Life has never been the same again two years later after water backflow in a Kisumu Village

It is Lunch time as some school going children are heading home to get a meal and rush back to school within Kabonyo/ Kanyagwal ward in Kisumu County.

Among the children who have been spotted rushing for lunch at home some 300 meters away from a school are four pupils of PP2 class at Nyamrundu Primary school which is one of the schools that were closed due to a major backflow of water from Lake Victoria that occurred from around 2020 March to last year in December.

The four pupils, two boys and two girls of the ages of about six to seven years are struggling to walk on the road from their school to home with a lot of difficulties because the state of the road is not in good state after the water backflow eroded all the murram rendering it impassable.

Making it worse is the rains witnessed within the area two days ago which has caused further confusion.

Some of the pupils reportedly walk for a kilometer to and from school after their learning activities

Actually during the water backflow that lasted for more than one year, the section of the road from Nduru between a market Center known as Amboo Complex was only passable by those who were using canoes which were puddled to Nduru beach because water was everywhere and most of the houses were completely submerged.

Residents and Visitors travel through a canoes within Kabonyo/Kanyagwal ward during the water backflow from Lake Victoria in July 2020

Nyamrundu Primary school is one of the schools which were greatly affected by the issue of water backflow from the Lake Victoria that was as a result of heavy down pour that was witnessed between January and March 2020.

Other schools which were also completely submerged in the water include Oseth and Kandaria while Odienya Primary school was partly affected by the water backflow known by the locals as Nger {the local name for the water backflow}.

Coordinator of Magnam Environmental Network that deals with issues of Environmental conservation in Lake Victoria Michael Otieno Nyaguti says the water backflow has been as a result of too much rains witnessed in most parts of the country from 2019 December, 2020 and partly 2021.

He says this was a major climate change that also brought about the change in the weather patterns in the country, adding that the long rains can be compared to El-Nino.

Nyaguti says the long rains led to the rise in the water level entering the Lake Victoria, adding  that this is not only the factor that led to increase of the volume of water in the lake.

He says during such period of the long rains that led to increase to the level of the water within the lake, there was also siltation which led to high deposit of sand and clay soils which were carried away to the Lake Victoria via rivers emptying their waters into it.

Nyaguti says the entry of excess water and siltation in the Lake made the level of the Lake trough to decrease at the shoreline.

He says in the case of Kabonyo/Kanyagwal and Ombaka areas which experienced major water backflow from the Lake Victoria there was a lot of siltation from the entry point of River Nyando to the Lake Victoria.

He adds that this made the excess water from the River Nyando not to be contained hence caused spillage, adding that the process of making dykes along the river will greatly help in controlling the water spillage.

He further adds that dredging is further needed to be done on the two sides of the river.

On the solution to another water backflow from the Lake Victoria, Nyaguti says there is need to dredge along the shorelines so as to enable more water entering the Lake.

For close to one and half  years, two schools namely Oseth and Nyamrundu were hosted at Odienya Primary school and their pupils just moved back to their schools in the beginning of this term as they resume learning for the third term from January 4 to early March this year.

A visit to the area within Kabonyo/Kanyagwal ward in Kisumu County by this writer who also visited it in July 2020 when the issue of the water backflow was very serious and about 500 families were affected now paints a picture of a different scenario two years later.

Gabriel Ochieng who now resides at Kibwai area about 3 kilometers away from Nyamrundu School is a victim of the phenomenon and he is currently being hosted by his paternal grandmother.

His home near the said school was completely submerged in water and he and other residents of the area vacated the place to safer grounds.

Ochieng says he has to take his three children to Nyamrundu School every morning using his motorbike he operates as a boda boda rider.

He says the status of the road is pathetic and needs to be repaired, adding that Authorities concerned should take quick action to ensure that the road is in a good state.

Ochieng says the status of the road has made businesses within the area flopped because no vehicle can make it to the market centers nearly to bring goods and services.

He says the road that is impassable disturbs children a lot and they delay to arrive both at schools and home.

“Our Children are really suffering while walking longer distance coupled with bad state of the road to Nyamrundu primary school. We appeal to the National Government to come to our rescue by repairing this road,” Ochieng says.

Some of the residents who still stay outside their homesteads nearly two years after the water backflow

At Oseth Primary school, learning resumed within the school after a population of 250 pupils were brought back from Odienya Primary school where they were hosted in a makeshift tent donated by the Kenya Red Cross Society. The same school hosted Nyamrundu Primary school’s pupils and they have gone back to their school to learn.

Acting Head Teacher of Oseth Primary school Caroline Oluoch says the backflow really affected the school and it was full of water.

She says they are now back in the school after following down the laid down protocols.

She adds that the major challenge they still have is with the pit latrines with water inside them due to the backflow.

She says they have managed to re-paint the classes before the pupils resumed learning.

At the infamous Amboo Complex Center which had been a market place for a while is now a deserted place with no business taking place since July 2020 when the water backflow struck in the area.

Within the area at the West Kano Irrigation scheme, close to 30 families who were rendered homeless as a result of the water backflow are still staying in the makeshifts because their area near Nduru Beach next to Nyamrundu primary school can’t accommodate them.

Caroline Akoth Anyul says she has stayed within the makeshift for more than one year with her family.

She says the family has never gone back to their home despite the water backflow reducing drastically, adding that their home is still in a pathetic state that include collapsed houses.

“We appeal to well-wishers to come to our rescue and even donate to us building materials so that we can put up new houses after the ones we had were destroyed by the water backflow,” Akoth says.

A house that was destroyed during the water backflow 

Dan Odhiambo Ojwando from Irrigation Scheme Sub-Location within the area says the water backflow that destroyed their homes and crops had never been seen.

He says they can plough their land near the Lake Victoria and are only working at the rice paddy fields at the West Kano Irrigation scheme to earn a living.

For some residents, life has gone back to normal as they have ploughed and planted various horticultural crops such as tomatoes and vegetables.

Lucas Onyango has planted a one and half acre plot of tomatoes which will be harvested in the next two months.

he has resorted to farming again nearly two years after the area was affected by the water backflow, adding that where his farm is situated was not greatly affected hence has made it easy for him to go back to that activity which helps him to earn a living.

Residents of Kabonyo/Kanyagwal Ward in Kisumu County were greatly affected by the back flow of water from Lake Victoria and about 500 families were displaced.

 The water back flow moved to nearly two kilometers from the Lake Victoria where even the crops and animals were swept away.