Senate's planned visit to Lake Nakuru to probe fisherman's disappearance flops

A planned visit by the Senate to Lake Nakuru National Park, following the disappearance of Brian Odhiambo, a fisherman, flopped on Friday, over security concerns.

The Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations had planned to visit the site where Odhiambo was last seen on January 18, 2025.

The committee was also to visit areas where over 500 people were displaced by rising water levels in the lake, and why there was illegal fishing within the park.

This followed a petition by Tom Mboya, a Nakuru activist, who wanted investigations of enforced disappearance, mass displacement and illegal fishing.

The committee spent over three hours at the County Commissioner’s office, engaging the security team.

However, after the meeting, the security team—comprising the County Police Commander, County Commissioner, Administration Police and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)—refused to accompany them to two areas they had identified: Park View in Nakuru East and Manyani in Nakuru West.

They said they had received intelligence that the residents were planning to cause chaos in a public forum at Kamukunji Grounds, where they were to gather after the site visits.

An argument ensued outside the commissioner’s office, with a human rights group urging the committee to visit the area, insisting that affected residents were ready to ventilate.

Masese Kemunche, an activist, said he had mobilised affected communities, including village elders, to meet the committee and tell their stories.

“I gave them assurances and promised to lead a team to the two sites. However, they played cat and mouse games and disappeared without notice,” he said.

He said the committee wasted public resources travelling from Nairobi, only to meet in a boardroom.

“They needed to go to the ground to investigate human rights violations around the lake,” said Masese.

Masese said it was unfortunate that the committee and the police were afraid of people.

He wondered how a county’s security team was unable to protect three senators on a site visit and insisted the same was to shield police and KWS from public scrutiny.

“The police do not want to be exposed for what they do to the members of the public who fish in the lake. The matter we are prosecuting starts and ends with the police,” he said.

Masese, however, said that in the boardroom, they had urged the committee to institute a commission of inquiry into the extrajudicial killing.

“We want them to investigate the rising water level and do research to determine whether the fish in the lake is suitable for consumption,” he said.

He said the committee should engage residents to ventilate and shed light on excesses of police and KWS.

Further, he urged the police to stop creating problems that do not exist to escape public scrutiny.

Mboya added that the committee needed to engage the people with information, including the media, community and human rights groups who have followed up on the case.

“Only 50 percent of the work was done. They came on Friday and I believe they need more than a day to crack this case,” he said.

Further, he called out the committee for listening to the police rather than the community, who are the affected ones.

The committee was led by the chair Senator Fatuma Dullo, Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda and Nakuru’s Tabitha Karanja.

Dullo said they had established that over 500 people had been displaced and that the compensation list was increasing.

She said that the youths who are unemployed will continue to illegally fish in the lake unless they are given alternative jobs.

Ojienda said they would ensure their process does not interfere with a criminal case against six rangers, who are charged with abducting Odhiambo.

Karanja said that the fish in the lake are poisoned by chemicals and waste from industries within Nakuru and the same should be stopped as per court orders.