Nearly 1,000 East Africans drown in Lake Victoria each year, Karugu says

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East African Community Affairs Principal Secretary Caroline Karugu. [File, Standard]

Nearly 1,000 East Africans drown in Lake Victoria every year, most while engaged in illegal fishing, East African Community Affairs Principal Secretary Caroline Karugu has said.

Karugu said Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were responding by establishing rescue and communication centres to improve surveillance and emergency response on the lake.

"Statistics have shown us that year on year we are losing close to 1,000 people, 1,000 East Africans on the lake, most of them engaging in illegal fishing," said Karugu.