Nakuru fishermen to receive training, rescue boats from government - CS Hassan Joho
Blue Economy CS Hassan Joho and Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika at Nakuru Show ground on March 11, 2026 where they promised to empower the fishing communities in Nakuru
The National Government is planning to empower fishing communities in Nakuru County through training, provision of rescue boats, and improved infrastructure in the lakes as part of efforts to strengthen the blue economy.
Speaking during a visit to Nakuru Showground while meeting Muslim women in the county, Cabinet Secretary for Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Ali Hassan Joho said the government will work with maritime institutions to equip local fishermen and youth with the necessary skills to operate safely and professionally.
CS Joho says young people engaging in fishing and maritime activities will receive government-sponsored training and certification through institutions such as the Kenya Maritime Authority and Bandari Maritime Academy.
“We will send people from the Maritime Authority and Bandari Maritime Academy. Our young people who are fishing should be given training and certificates at the cost of the government,” says Joho.
The CS further announced that the ministry will procure rescue facilities and boats for the six lakes within Nakuru county to enhance safety for fishermen operating in the waters.
" I will instruct the people at the Kenyan Maritime Authority, because there are six lakes in Nakuru, each lake must start procuring a rescue facility and a rescue boat,” he says.
The move is expected to address safety concerns that have long plagued fishermen operating in the region’s lakes.
In 2025, Assistant Director in charge of Lake Nakuru National Park, Emmanuel Koech, revealed that the park had retrieved more than six bodies of illegal fishermen from Lake Nakuru that year alone. Most of the victims were young men aged between 18 and 25 years.
Families of those who drown in the lake are often forced to hire private boats and divers to search for the bodies of their loved ones, an expensive and emotionally draining process.
Should the rescue boats promised by the CS be deployed to the lakes, it would ease the burden on families and improve emergency response during accidents.
CS Blue Economy Ali Hassan Joho and Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika at Nakuru Show ground on March 11, 2026, where they promised to empower the fishing communities in Nakuru.
Meanwhile, Susan Kihika has also called on the ministry to help secure fishing licenses for youth in the county, particularly for those seeking to operate in Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru.
“Many of our young people have been affected by Lake Nakuru and Naivasha. Because our CS for the Blue Economy ministry, is in Nakuru he will help us as a county to understand how we can get fishing licenses for our young men,” says Kihika.
Joho cites a successful empowerment initiative in Homa Bay County led by Governor Gladys Wanga, where a group of 20 women received a fish cage stocked with 33,000 fingerlings and six months’ supply of fish feeds.
"The group later sold the fish and earned Sh13 million from the project," Joho notes.
The government now plans to replicate similar initiatives in Nakuru by investing in fish landing sites, processing facilities and storage infrastructure in the next financial year.
The push comes amid growing concerns overfishing safety in the lakes. In February 2026, three fishermen drowned in Lake Naivasha after their boat capsized due to strong winds, adding to the rising number of fatalities reported in Nakuru’s lakes.
Authorities hope that with proper training, licensing, rescue facilities and investment in the blue economy, fishing can become both a safer and more profitable livelihood for communities living around the lakes.