EFFECTS OF LAKE VICTORIA WATER VESSEL ACCIDENTS ON THE SOCIO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF HOUSEHOLDS IN MBITA SUB-COUNTY, HOMA BAY COUNTY, KENYA.

Abstract

For a long time, in many regions across the world, water vessel accidents have been on the rise hence has disrupted the socio-economic activities of many people. Indeed, a lot of properties and lives have been lost during these unfortunate occurrences. Therefore, this study examined the impact of water vessel accidents on the livelihood of those living in Mbita Sub- County in the Lake Victoria basin of Kenya. The study was guided by the following objectives. To determine the prevalence of Lake Victoria water vessel accidents in Mbita Sub-County, Kenya; to examine the effects of Lake Victoria water vessel accidents on the socio-economic activities of the communities; and to evaluate the effectiveness of measures applied by the community and government agents to mitigate the impacts of water vessel accidents on the socio-economic in Mbita Sub-County, Kenya. The study employed a disaster impact model by Lindell, Wisner and Sustainable Livelihood Framework to analyze the impact of ship and boat accidents on the community’s livelihood. Similarly, the research used survey research design in this study. The study used stratified sampling technique to select respondents for the study. The study sampled 384 household heads respondents drawn from all the five wards within Mbita sub-County. The study sampled household heads as main unit of analysis while key informants were drawn from KMA, ministry of interior officers, ministry of fisheries, victims of vessels accidents, and search and rescue team. Data collection tools included questionnaires, Interview guide and document analysis. Data was coded and then entered in the SPSS software and analyzed. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and quantitative results were presented in graphs, tables, frequencies and percentages. Similarly, qualitative data were cleaned and analyzed in themes. The result shows that for many years, water vessel accidents have been occurring in Lake Victoria. The frequency of the water vessel accidents cannot be determined or predicted; they sometimes occur frequently while at times you can even take three to four years before you hear of an accident in L. Victoria. As a result, the leading causes of these accidents are unfavorable weather conditions, mysterious happenings and lack of experience by sailors to navigate the Lake. According to Pearson, there was a correlation at a 0.01 significant level (2-tailed) between the effects of water vessel accidents and household level of income. Finally, this study revealed that the local community mitigates the impact of water vessel accidents through training, avoiding overloading, and improving the boat nature. The study concluded that water vessel accidents are common in Lake Victoria which mostly involve unpredictable capsizing of boats and rare capsizing waterbus. Water vessel accidents occur as a result of bad weather, mystery, crew errors and poor state of water vessels. The study also concluded that Water vessel accidents have resulted into psychological problems, poverty, social break-ups, hunger and dropping out of school due to inability to pay school fees. Finally, the study concluded that Water vessel accidents have resulted into psychological problems, poverty, social break-ups, hunger and dropping out of school due to inability to pay school fees while slow response during water vessel accidents was cited in addition to the government not offering any help