A month after their daughter was attacked by a crocodile, Vitus Richard, the father, says family members are still searching for her possible remains in the waters of Lake Victoria at Chelameno Village, Nyamboge Ward in Geita Region.
The find of the possible remains, he says, would help to let them to rest and hopefully find some sort of emotional closure.
Avelina Vitus (8) was snatched by the reptile in a series of gruesome incidences in which crocodiles have killed a number of people in Lake Victoria’s Geita Region.
Using canoes made from reeds and air filled containers they nicknamed ‘bonnets’, family members aided by villagers have been plying the shallow waters where the incident took place to see if they can stumble on any remains of their loved one.
“We know for sure we will not find her alive, but we just want to see if we can get the remains so that we can give her the honour she deserves by burying the body in a proper religious ceremony,” the father says.
“We know for sure we will not find her alive, but we just want to see if we can get the remains so that we can give her the honour she deserves by burying the body in a proper religious ceremony,” the father says.
Risking lives, the team combs in groves along the bank where the incident took place, until they are satisfied that body parts can no longer be retrieved in that day.
After spending hours rummaging, they return home worn out, hoping that the next day would yield better prospects.
Lemile Enosi, one of the villagers, came to the family one day to announce that he has seen a crocodile at the same place where the Standard II child was killed.
That elicited a determination by villagers to go to the site only to find that the animal had vanished. It was at that moment that they were determined to kill the beast, even by using bare hands.
Burying of people’s remains killed by crocodiles is commonplace in the village. A fisherman was killed by a crocodile in October last year in the village.
According to the ward councilor Daudi Mlekwa, the fisherman, Deus Mange (30), was killed at 8pm as he was fishing in the lake.
“We were able to get the entrails of the deceased and managed to bury them ceremoniously,” the councilor said. The deceased left four children and a widow who is currently struggling to make ends meet on her own.
Her children are Neema Lameck (8) Shinje Lameck (5), Amos Lameck, (3).
A well established fisherman in the area, Peter John, says his long experience on the lake has taught him that many of the crocodiles who attack people are those of advanced age.
He says old crocodiles do not have the strength to hunt prey in the water. “We normally come across young crocodiles getting prey at ease. They don’t harm us. It is only old crocs who prey on human beings and especially women and children,” he says.
However, superstitious beliefs run high in the area. Many believe that crocodiles can in fact be tamed by or for the purposes of witchcraft.
“Why is it that when game wardens come to weed out the terrorising crocodiles, they are never visible but when they leave, the beasts just seem to pop up and attack unarmed people, ”he says.
The fact that witchcraft might be involved is also supported by a villager, Amos Abel (22), who says that they recently witnessed a suspicious hyena wreaking havoc in the village.
Villagers went to the person whom they suspected was the owner of the hyena. People went to him and ordered him to let the hyena be killed or he be killed himself.
He let them kill the animal. This can be the case with these crocodiles, he said.
How man-eating crocs have changed lives of Geita residents.
Besides crocodile attacks claiming lives of many people in Geita District, the social fabric has considerably changed.
Many people in the district, especially those living on the shores of Lake Victoria, now fear to engage in fishing, a major economic activity in the area after farming.
Geita is known for being one of the main areas for dried sardines, catering for other regions in the country and a huge chunk of the fish goes to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Burundi.
Lorries after lorries can be found transporting fish from Geita, meaning that fishermen have gain a lot from fish sale. However, one fisherman in the area says that what is available now is just peanuts compared to catch in the past.
“There was a time when you could not easily cross the road from Geita because of the heavy traffic going to the lake to buy fish from local fishermen. The fear of crocodiles has contributed to the decline,” the fisherman, who preferred anonymity, said.
According to the 2012 Geita Regional Economic profile, the region contributes nine percent of GDP after Dar es Salaam Region.
Geita Region has a small water body (extending an area of 1,946 sq kms) on which traditional fishing activities are carried out mainly by an estimated 8,153 artisanal fishermen using about 2,440 licensed fishing vessels, mostly planked boats using a variety of nets and hooks.
Regional records show that the number of fishermen in 2012 was 4,672, while the number of vessels was 1,373.
Fish catches had a total of 2,055.12 tonnes with a value of 5,008,378,000/-. Geita alone collected 64,129,500/-. It is most likely that the crocodile incidences will make many fishermen abandon fishing in the long run as evidenced by residents interviewed.
The Secretary of the Nyamboge Village Land Tribunal, Richard Njora Bundu (61) said the crocodile issue has reduced many of the fishermen in the area into destitution.
He gave an example of many school boys who were fishing on the lake to help their parents earn money for domestic use and school fees but are now not going to fish now.
“Our schools were fishing in the lake during their school holidays but are not doing so now for fear of the crocodiles. The animals have dealt a big blow to our fishing activities,” he said. James Dosa (48) says women and children are more vulnerable to crocodiles because it is them who fetch water in the river for domestic use.
“Because there are no wells along our banks in Geita, women and children are fetching their water from the lake where crocodiles lurk,” he said.
The Head Teacher of the Chelameno Primary School says after the death of the school girl, life has changed for the school children.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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