No shortage of human activity on Mageta Island, the island that time forgot

Residents of Mageta Island in Siaya county County boarding a ferry to Usenge Beach. Residents say it is too expensive to invest in the island since everything, apart from water and fish, is imported. (PHOTO: COLLINS ODUOR/ STANDARD)

A historical island in Lake Victoria is a hive of activity yet it remains forgotten territory.

No vehicle has been driven to Mageta Island as there are no roads. It also lacks many basic facilities.

The island was used as a detention camp for arrested Mau Mau fighters. The late Waruru Kanja, a Nyeri politician, was one of the bigshots who were incarcerated there.

The detention cells were later converted into a health dispensary that now serves all the islanders.

Residents say it is too expensive to invest in the island since everything, apart from water and fish, is imported. Those who have good houses have spent a fortune importing cement, roofing materials, sand and nails to put up the structures.

Traders and fisherfolk

The island has four primary schools, a secondary school and a dispensary and hosts dozens of traders and fisherfolk.

Even as most corners of Kenya enjoy stable mobile phone coverage, the island has poor communication signals.

Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda says the island has great untapped potential but lacks basic infrastructure that could turn it around.

"It expensive to invest on the island. It literally imports everything. It costs the Constituency Development Fund about Sh1 million to construct a classroom while on the mainland it is Sh600,000.

"Sanitation here is the biggest challenge as it is rocky and difficult to sink pit latrines. We pump water from the lake, treat it and distribute to locals but that is not enough," Mr Ochanda says.

Nominated MP Oburu Oginga, who served as area MP from 1994 to 2013, has fond memories of the island and wants its rich heritage preserved.

"I have lobbied the National Museums of Kenya to designate some parts for a museum. We built classrooms and a fish banda for locals but we need mobile phone services," says Mr Oburu.

Residents have called on mobile phone service providers to boost their signals in the area in order to enhance communication.

Speaking to The Standard, Ogaga Wanda, a village elder, said that poor communication networks have led to the poor response in handling security issues in the island.

Most residents say it is difficult to respond to emergencies, as network hitches hamper voice calls and Internet connections, while text messages take long to be delivered.

Network problems

"Accessing network has been big challenge in this part of the country and even co-ordinating responses to medical emergencies is not an easy task," says Obed Asanyo, a health officer at Mageta Health Centre.

He says sometimes they are forced to make and receive phone calls at specific points where the network signal is a bit stronger.

Mr Asanyo says most patients who develop complications suffer for long as health officers struggle to communicate with referral facilities.

According to Peter Ndagwa, a resident and businessman on the island, most islanders have opted to subscribe to mobile service providers operating in Uganda.

He says some mobile phone service providers operating in Uganda have stronger signals compared to those operating in Kenya.

"But the challenge is that you are charged for making and receiving calls and scratch cards for those networks are not easily available," says Mr Ndagwa.