President William Ruto has pledged to restock Lake Victoria, whose fish stock has dwindled recently.
Speaking in Nyando Sub County during the groundbreaking of the Kes 1 billion Kabonyo Kanyagwal fish aquaculture project, Ruto says food security is his top priority in the country.
President Ruto said that by December next year, the establishment will stand.
“You have waited for this fish project for the last 20 years, I want to assure you that I will be back before December next year to come and open it,” he said.
Ruto says fish is one of the items that will help his government sort out the challenge of the high cost of living by ensuring there is adequate food in the country.
He announced that the aquaculture will produce 7 million fingerlings in the first year of operations before it scales up to 10 million fingerlings.
“We will take the fingerlings to the fish ponds in the country and use the rest to restock the lake,” he said.
The head of state noted that Lake Victoria has, in the past years, faced a myriad of challenges that has led to the depletion of fish stocks, forcing the country to import fish.
He says his government will engage in an ambitious restocking of the lake to ensure adequate fish for local consumption and export.
“Besides this project, my government is building 8 fish landing sites spread in the four counties in the region,” he said.
He also said Kes 600 million was dedicated to ensuring the landing sites have cold storage and processing units and to ensure that Beach Management Units (BMUs) are well structured.
