Government to lift night fishing ban in Lamu

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Lamu, KENYA: The national government has announced plans to review the night fishing ban in Kiunga, Lamu East with a view of lifting it.

The ban was introduced in 2011 by the national government as a security measure following cases of attacks and kidnapping of fishermen and tourists in the region by Al-Shabaab militants.

The announcement comes at a moment when Lamu leaders led by Governor Issa Timamy have been pushing for the lift of the ban, saying it had greatly contributed to poverty among locals whose only economic activity is fishing.

Speaking in Lamu on Thursday,Deputy Linda Boni Operation Director Ngalia Ndaya said security had been restored all over Lamu since the operation began by Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery on September 15,2015.

Ndaya said they were in talks with other relevant authorities in order to have fishermen in Kiunga and Lamu East generally resume their night fishing practices very soon.

Ndaya lauded efforts made by security officers conducting the Linda Boni operation which he said have achieved the set target of being able to completely eliminate terror attacks in the county.

“Since the operation began there has been tremendous improvement in as far as the security of Lamu and its borders is concerned.We can therefore confidently say that security here is very okay and as such we plan to have the fishermen in Lamu East be allowed to continue with night fishing,that will happened very soon,”said Ndaya
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The announcement by the deputy operation director comes as good news to the fishing sector in Lamu which has faced numerous challenges for the over five years that ban has been in place and led to the dwindling of the sector.

Its believed that at least 90% of residents in Kiunga depend on fishing for survival.

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