Ms Ruth Mbula reminiscences how her community near Mombasa’s Shelly Beach in Likoni lived in harmony with the Indian ocean 15 years ago.
The ocean was the guardian of their life, she says.
In her words, the Indian Ocean was like her co-wife in an African polygamous society, who provided more to her stepchildren and their mothers than she was asked to.
“She (ocean) gave us free fish to eat and sell. Generously, swept cowries like conch, triton, and helmet to our shores for us to collect and sell to get money to educate our children,” said Mbula.
Unlike other nagging co-wives in most polygamous families, Ms Mbula says the ocean also gave women space along the beach to do their little business, and children to play. In those days, women roasted cassava and fried viazi karai or samosa as their little ones played at the edge of the ocean, occasionally, jumping into the waves to swim across to the island.
Then, beaches were not fenced, and seawalls erected, to keep destructive strong tides from the ocean at bay. But this adorable bromance between locals and the ocean is over thanks to rising water linked to climate change.
Experts say the rising water levels and gigantic tides have destroyed properties in Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, and Tana Rivers, where strong tides have eroded huge parts and submerged Tana River Lodges and Hotel in Kipini village.
In Mombasa, Shelly Beach Resort, Shalom Hotel, Savana Cottage, Rhino Safaris, and other big ventures along beaches at Likoni are fortified by concrete seawalls to arrest the destructive king tides.
Instead of the shells, the locals used to collect, sun-bleached driftwood, piles of sediment, and eroded bedrocks are left behind by the surges as they ebb to the mouth of Kilindini harbour, south of Mombasa.
Opposite Shelly Beach, on the side of the island, the huge erosion caused by the strong tides on the Da Cost Creek at the Mombasa Golf Club has left a huge gap on the course visible from 500 metres away.
The effects of the rising sea level on the Mombasa Golf Course, Africa’s only link course, is evident as it has eaten almost the fairway number 4, near De Cost Creek, posing a danger to golfers.
The area on the 123-year-old golf course has been left with ‘huge sharp creeks’. There are plans to construct a bridge to enable the golfers to access the other part of the golf.
“De Cost Creek is named after one of our oldest members. He fell off the eroded creek as he tried to tee off. He was injured and rushed to hospital,” said club chairman Paul Munyao.
Mombasa Golf Course in downtown Kizingo, was established in 1911, five years after the first one was opened in Nairobi.
A report by scientists at the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) says that ocean levels at Kilindini Harbor are increasing annually by 3.1 millimetres and that Mombasa is witnessing almost twice as many high tides compared to two decades ago.
A seawall was erected for Sh500 million to hold the 428-year-old Fort Jesus from being swept to the ocean. Initially, the seawall, a belt to fortify the Island, was to be constructed from Fort Jesus, through State House, Mombasa Hospital to the golf course. This is because most of the old buildings on this belt are national monuments. The Mombasa Golf Clubhouse was listed and gazetted as one of the top 100 national monuments in 1997.
Critics of the seawall argue they interfere with the tides, causing erosion in other parts of the Island. They say the rapid erosion at the club was due to the seawall in the neighbouring properties.
“The seawalls in the neighbouring areas made the waves stronger and hungrier, and that is why the erosion has been very rapid at the club,” said an ecologist Ms Mwanaisha Kadenge.
Poignantly, Ms Mercy Mghanga, the chair of Mombasa Beach Management Units (BMU), described how the rising sea has affected their trade, leading to increased accidents in the Indian Ocean.
She said since February, volumes of fish caught by her members have dropped because rising temperatures and strong waves have destroyed the corals and breeding sites. “Fish have deserted because the breeding sites and corals have been destroyed. We have also witnessed increased accidents of boats that capsize because of the gigantic tides,” said Ms Mghanga.
She said several bodies of fishermen swept by the tides from Comoro and Pemba in recent years have been found at the shores of Malindi, Lamu, and Mtwapa.
In Kenya, there has also been an increase in reported accidents in the Indian Ocean. Mostly, boats are swept by the strong currents, according to Ms Mghanga.
Ecologists say the erosion was also a threat to marine life as it affects the turbidity of sea water, degenerating its quality and affecting the visibility and feeding of aquatic life.
On transport, experts say the erosion was also a course of silting of the Likoni Channel, forcing the government to undertake costly dredging to facilitate the access of huge ships to the Port of Mombasa.
In 2011, the Kilindini harbour, the largest port on the East coast of Africa, was drenched to remove excess silt threatening the facility at the cost of Sh7.7 billion ($60 million).
Recently, Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director William Ruto announced the second phase of dredging to deepen the channel to minus 16 metres to accommodate big ships.
In Kilifi’s Mtwapa area, the 600-year-old Jumba la Mtwana Ruins is on the verge of collapse due to the waves from the ocean linked to the effects of global warming.
The walls of the village built in the 14th century are falling into the ocean owing to the effects of erosion that scientists blame on increasing water levels.
“During neap tide, tidal currents of the Indian Ocean wash the lower parts of the mosque by the sea, eroding its foundation,” said William Tsaka, Jumba La Mtwana Ruins curator.
Some walls of the ruins are precariously leaning and likely to collapse if not stabilised while some pits have deep cavities, making coral rags fall off the walls.
Mr Caesar Bita, an Underwater and Marine Cultural Research Scientist, said the poor state of Jumba La Mtwana Ruins is prevalent in most historical sites across the Coast.
“Our cultural heritage is facing serious threat from climate change which has seen unprecedented rise in sea levels. If not outright erosion by the waves, crushing and breakage by the sea swells, then it is buried by sea sands,” said Bita.
He said the erosion has gone with its historical sites, tourist attractions, sacred sites such as kayas, farming grounds, and settlement areas.
In Lamu, the narrow creek at Pate Bay that divided the Island into two halves has been swallowed and it is now deep, allowing sailing ships to anchor. The eastern side of this creek has silted heavily, allowing mangrove forests to grow, covering the entire original anchorage.
However, in some areas along the Coastal beaches, the sea has receded, creating swathes of land, and in others, coastal foreshores have been eroded.
Perhaps, as some have predicted, in the span of human life, Mombasa island will sink or a vast majority of its land will be covered by the rising waters of the ocean. Along the beach, inhabitants have fled.
