30,000 Mfangano residents face transport crisis as Senate pushes for second ferry

NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 13 – The Senate has urged the government to procure a second public ferry for Lake Victoria, seeking to end years of transport disruptions that have left more than 30,000 residents of Mfangano Island and neighbouring islands struggling to access essential services.

The Senate Standing Committee on Roads, Transportation and Housing wants the government to deploy a new ferry currently under construction at Kisumu Shipyard to the Mbita-Mfangano route within six months and allocate funds for an additional vessel in the 2027/2028 financial year.

The recommendations follow a petition by Daniel Rakoro and other Mfangano residents, presented to the Senate on October 18, 2022, highlighting the lack of reliable public transport linking Mfangano, Takawiri, Remba, Atego, Risi and Ringiti islands to one another and the mainland.

Presenting the committee’s report to the Senate in September, then committee chairperson and Migori Senator Eddy Oketch described ferry transport as the “sole and critical link” connecting Mbita, Mfangano and the mainland, warning that the absence of a reliable service had significantly affected island communities.

The petitioners told the Senate that the suspension of the only private ferry service in December 2021 had forced residents to rely on expensive and unsafe private boats, driving up the cost of living and doing business while exposing passengers to safety risks.

The committee established that the transport crisis had disrupted access to healthcare, education and markets, while also slowing the implementation of government development projects in the islands.

“The absence of a public ferry after the suspension of ferry operations disrupted access to essential services and forced residents to rely on costly, unsafe private transport,” the report states.

The committee, which received submissions from the petitioners, the National Treasury, the Ministry of Roads and Transport, the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA), also raised concerns over delays in the government’s ferry procurement programme.

The project was initiated following a Sh300 million budgetary allocation in the 2022/2023 financial year. However, its implementation experienced significant delays, with delivery of the vessel projected for July 2026.

The Senate committee also questioned the substantial increase in the project’s cost after KPA took over its implementation. The initial Sh300 million allocation rose to an estimated Sh1 billion, before the contract was eventually signed at Sh766 million, excluding VAT.

“The project cost increased substantially following its takeover by the Kenya Ports Authority,” the committee observed, calling for effective project implementation and accountability.

A second ferry, which had also been earmarked for the route through a Sh300 million allocation in the 2023/2024 financial year, was never procured due to budgetary constraints.

The committee cautioned that even the completion of the vessel currently under construction may not fully resolve the crisis, as it is intended to serve multiple routes on Lake Victoria rather than being exclusively assigned to the Mbita-Mfangano corridor.

“The ferry under construction is intended to serve multiple Lake Victoria routes rather than being dedicated to the Mbita-Mfangano route,” the report states.

This arrangement, the committee warned, could undermine the reliability of services for island residents who depend on water transport for their daily activities.

To address the situation, the committee wants the Ministry of Roads and Transport, working alongside KPA and KMA, to operationalise the new ferry and deploy it to improve connectivity between Mbita and Mfangano within six months of the report’s tabling.

It has also recommended that the National Treasury ring-fence funds in the 2026/2027 financial year budget to complete the Mbita and Sena piers and rehabilitate associated ramps and jetties at Mbita and Mfangano.

KPA is expected to oversee the works and submit a progress report to the Senate within six months.

The committee has further called on the Homa Bay County Government, in collaboration with the Ministry of Roads and Transport and the National Treasury, to provide adequate funding and initiate the procurement of a second ferry in the 2027/2028 financial year.

It says the additional vessel is necessary to guarantee reliable and sustainable public transport for communities living on Mfangano and neighbouring islands, ending their prolonged dependence on costly private boats to access the mainland.