It’s a tricky affair doing business on Lake Victoria

Mwanza.  A drop in the supply of fish in Lake Victoria has resurrected the notorious fish-for-sex deals known locally as “jaboya”. A survey at landing sites in Mara, Geita and Mwanza indicates a sharp rise in the practice since March, when the fish shortage picked up pace.

Local groups have tried to put an end to the shady deals, but matters are complicated by the way the system works and the players involved.  “It is hard to curb the practice since it appears to be a survival mechanism for women,” says Baraka Almas of a non-governmental organisation, Supreme.  “It is a complicated system.”

 Mr Almas, the director of the organisation, adds that the only opportunity they have to advise the women is when they turn up to apply for loans in financial institutions. “We can’t go further than that because that would be tantamount to interfering in their privacy,” he adds.

 Women who previously waited for the catch early in the morning, now spend their nights with fishermen in order to entice them to release their supply at more favourable prices.

A middle-aged woman,  Mama Tabu, explains:  “The fishermen dictate terms due to the huge demand caused by the disappearance of fish. Since our survival depends solely on fish, we have to apply all kinds of tricks to lure fishermen to release their catch at affordable prices. Those who are naïve go home empty-handed.”

 “Sometimes you have to give them what they demand before releasing the little catch they bring ashore.”

On a chilly morning at Kabanganya and Igome landing points, a few kilometres west of Mwanza, a group of women rush into the gentle waves to meet an approaching boat.  Each wears an inviting smile, trying to catch the eye of the fishermen in a half-full boat bearing Tilapia and the less popular Nile Perch.

 “Fish, especially the much loved Tilapia, is scarce nowadays,” says Mama Bitwalo soon after sealing a deal with a man who appears to be in charge of the boat at Igombe fish centre. “We have to do everything we can to convince the fishermen to sell us their catch at affordable prices.”

Any campaign against the Jaboya practice is further complicated by the fact that it is an accepted practice in the local community.  The drop in fish stocks has had a direct impact on women’s lives here. Some have turned to selling firewood from the islands in the lake, but opportunities to earn decent money are limited.

 Jimmy Luhende, a human rights activist from Action for Democracy and Local Governance (ADLG), says the sex-for-fish trend is out of control now that fish supplies have dropped drastically.  “It has been very difficult to deal effectively with it since we might interfere with people’s privacy, which is one of the basic human rights,” he says.

His organisation has been unable to reach those involved since the right to privacy is defined in the Constitution. 

 Lake Victoria is a source of employment, livelihood, recreation and tourism for people who live in the Lake Zone Region, but years of over-fishing and illegal exports of unprocessed fish to the European Union, Middle East and Russia have seen stocks diminish.  Processing factories have closed business and livelihoods of about  40 million people living in the lake basin are compromised.

Though its origin is highly disputed, some sources claim that the word “jaboya” comes from Luo language meaning a customer. But sources in Mara and Mwanza believe it is associated with fishing gear. “The only way women can guarantee their getting fish is to take multiple partners on the beach,” says Mr Almas. “Those with several partners are more likely to get fish.”

While experts claim that exports have led to the  scarcity of fish and price hikes on the local market, regional authorities blame illegal fishing using illegal gear. Mr Evarist Ndikilo, the regional commissioner, believes these two factors have done great damage to the species of fish in the lake.

“Illegal fishing must be fought at any cost since threatens the future of the lake and its species of fish,” he warns.  But multi-national organisations point to over-fishing as the major reason for the drop in fish in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

They claim that large quantities of illegally traded unprocessed fish, especially the Nile Perch and Tilapia, may be finding their way to export markets in the European Union.  Nile Perch, which was introduced into Lake Victoria by British colonial officers in the 1950s, has wreaked environmental havoc in the lake and killed indigenous species. 

Over-fishing of the Nile Perch has been blamed on too many vessels on the lake and too many fishermen using wrong fishing methods.

More than 10 factories around Lake Victoria have closed down and the other 25 are operating below capacity.

Forty three per cent of Lake Victoria is  Uganda’s territory while 51 per cent belongs to Tanzania.