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Bodies of 4 fishermen who drowned in Lake Naivasha retrieved
04th January, 2026 09:10 PM
The bodies of the four foot-fishermen who drowned while illegally fishing in Lake Naivasha have been recovered following a two-day search around the scene of the incident.
Two of the bodies were recovered on Saturday evening, January 3, 2026, while the rest were recovered on Sunday morning, January 4, 2026, following a joint operation involving the Kenya Coast Guards Service and local fishermen.
Incidentally, two of the victims are brothers who hailed from Kihoto estate and had joined their colleagues for fishing near KARLO farm when a group of hippos attacked.
While fleeing from the animals, four of the 14 youths drowned while the rest managed to swim to safety amid concern over a rise in cases of drowning and hippo attacks in the lake.
According to Naivasha DCIO Isaac Kiama, all the youths who were in the lake during the attack had now been accounted for after the four bodies were recovered.
“All four missing bodies have now been recovered and taken to the Naivasha sub-county hospital mortuary, and inquest files opened,” he said.
He expressed his concern over the high number of deaths involving youths who were illegally fishing in the water body in the last two years.
“As the number of illegal fishermen in the lake rises, so have cases of drowning, and many of the victims are very young men in search of food for their families,” he said.
According to Francis Muthui, the chairman of Friends of Lake Naivasha, the water body was recording at least four deaths related to drowning or hippo attacks every month.
He said that foot-fishermen were the most affected as the fishing sector continued to attract hundreds of unemployed youths, mainly from the nearby informal settlements.
