Water levels in Lake Baringo and Lake Bogoria have surged since 2011 due to above-average rainfall, submerging farmland, schools, a health centre, and roads across Baringo North, South and Tiaty sub-counties. In May, the flooding reached a critical point, forcing more than 40,000 people from their homes. Samuel Loruman, 43, now rows a boat over what was once his family's grazing land near Kampi Samaki, where his father's cattle boma once stood. "I did not move house. The lake moved into my house," he said. His ancestral land now lies roughly 4 metres underwater. Once a herder and sorghum farmer, Loruman now fishes tilapia for a living and teaches former farmers how to navigate the lake. He sits on a community committee that allocates fishing zones. "My father would not recognise me holding a net instead of a herding stick," he said. "At the beginning, it felt like becoming nobody." Loruman has rebuilt his home farther from the shore and warns others not to build too close to the water. "You learn not to build anything you love too close to the water," he said. His son, who learned to swim before walking, has never herded goats. "He will inherit water, not land," Loruman said. Scientists note the lakes have always fluctuated, but recent changes are faster and more extreme. Professor Simon Onywere of Kenyatta University described the rise as part of a complex hydrological puzzle, with rainfall only one contributing factor. Dr. Joyce Kimutai of the Kenya Meteorological Department agreed no single cause explains the rise. Deforestation and soil erosion have reduced the lakes' storage capacity, worsening the flooding. Professor Christopher Shisanya warned climate change is amplifying natural variability, increasing the likelihood of extreme wet periods. The department forecasts an 80 percent chance of El Niño-related rains later this year, expected to peak from October to December, raising fears of further lake expansion.
A man who once herded goats now rows a boat over his family's submerged land, teaching others to fish where crops once grew. His son has never known dry ground, learning to swim before walking. The lake did not rise gradually—it swallowed lives, livelihoods and memory in a single generation. What is being inherited is not just water, but a world remade without consent.
Editorial note: AI-assisted opinion, not established fact. Full disclaimer →
