Lake Victoria’s forgotten sea route revived 

For years, steamers carrying goods and passengers were the main transport mode across Lake Victoria moving from one country to another and easing cross border trade. In its hey days, Lake Victoria had over five functional ports: Kisumu being the largest, Mwanza, Musoma and Bukoba in Tanzania, Entebbe, Jinja and Port Bell all in Uganda. There were other minor ports scattered across the area including Kendu Bay, Port Victoria, and Mbita Point which were mainly used by smaller boats.  The lake was mainly used to move goods from one point to another, but also was instrumental in the growth of the fishing industry in East Africa. There were also international ferries operating clockwise and anticlockwise across the lake cities of the biggest lake in Africa, moving thousands of passengers every year. Initially, the ferries and ports were run under the East African Railways and Harbours but were later left under each country to manage when the East African Community broke up in the 70s.  Then, poor management coupled with the infestation of the water hyacinth, a crippling weed resulted in the ports’ degeneration to a very sorry state. While there was still some level of ferry operations locally, especially in Tanzania, most of the other countries struggled to remain afloat. For example, Kendu Bay, a sea point on the southern part of the lake used to