The El Niño warning has gone out for Kenya, but is anyone listening?

Nakuru county government workers unclog some of the town’s drainage system for easier flow of rainwater. Most counties are rushing to unblock the drainage system due to the eagerly awaited El-Nino rains PHOTO: BONIFACE THUKU

NAIROBI: Dozens of families living in the landslide-prone areas of the Elgeyo escarpment were asked to move to safer grounds as the potential danger posed by the El Niño rains began to sink in.

The danger areas mapped were Embolot, Embobut, Endo, Kaben and Mumol locations in Marakwet East Sub County. Residents of Kapcherop, Chebororwa and Kipsaya in Marakwet West Sub County were also asked to move.

However one of the residents, Joseph Kibet of Kabechei in Keiyo South, said relocation was not practical unless they were resettled in safer areas and their land parcels swapped with other plots and used for conservation of wildlife and plants.

“During the 1997 El Niño rains, people, livestock and other property were swept down the escarpment by massive landslides. But we have not been resettled in safer areas as promised,” Kibet  said.

By last week, the Government was busy mobilising resources in anticipation that there will be heavy floods and announced that it had    raised Sh12 billion to meet the cost of repairs of the destruction it anticipates will be associated with the El Niño rains.   

Work has began on the reconstruction and strengthening of dykes, unclogging of canals and desilting of dams and water pans across the country even before the rains begin.

Last week, Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa (pictured below) visited Nyando, Kano Plains and Budalang’i to assess the situation and launched the repairing of dykes and removal of silt and mud at the mouths of rivers Nzoia and Nyando along Lake Victoria.

“We already have Sh12 billion from the national and county governments out of the Sh18 billion that we estimate is required to deal with the problem,” said Wamalwa.

The county governments have released a combined budget of Sh7 billion while the national government has raised Sh5 billion. The deficit has been pledged by development partners and the private sector.

All El Niño programmes are to be undertaken by a multi-sectoral task force involving the ministries of Water, Education, Devolution and Special Programmes, Defence, Health, Agriculture and Interior.

Kenyans are being sensitised on how to deal with the floods and landslides that could accompany the heavy rains which are expected to start any time now. Emergency teams from the National Youth Service will help to harvest excess water, repair damaged roads and infrastructure, and control floods.

The Government is also desilting dams and water pans to store large amounts of running water and prevent damage to property.

This past week, Wamalwa led a team of senior government officers to Laikipia and Nyandarua where they inspected 52 dams built by the colonial government that are ready for desilting. In Marsabit, they found Bakuli Dam full of sand and logs.

“We will deploy the military and NYS to clear those dams so that we can store as much water as possible and also to ensure that people are safe,” said the CS.

The Ministry of Devolution has promised to release 70,000 men and women from NYS to help in the El Niño control activities around the country while the Ministry of Defence will also provide personnel and equipment to excavate the dams and repair roads.

The Ministry of Health will be dealing with the prevention and treatment of water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid. It will also be expected to distribute medicines to the disaster areas. 

The Ministry of Education is expected to ensure that learning and national examinations are not disrupted.