Solai dam tragedy victims in struggle to rebuild lives

Milka Nduta (right), a victim of the Patel Dam tragedy, with her family members at their new home in Nyakinyua village in Solai, Nakuru County, last week. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Teresia Njeri has been having sleepless nights since the Patel Dam tragedy early last month. While she escaped death, her father Stephen Mbugua and her six-year-old daughter Mary Wangui were not so lucky.

But even more disturbing for Ms Njeri, 35, is the fact she cannot bury her daughter. Reason? Another family has laid claim to the body. Her father has since been buried.

Njeri said as she was preparing to bury her daughter, an elderly man went to the mortuary and claimed the girl was his grandchild.

It is not easy to tell who is speaking the truth until results of the DNA tests conducted by Government a month ago are released.

 Some 47 people were killed and hundreds of families displaced in the May 9 tragedy.

Besides causing death and destruction of property, raging floods from the burst Solai dam also washed away fertile soil, leaving the land unproductive.

Temporary structure

“I am still mourning my father. However, the fate of my daughter’s body is hurting me more. I wake up every morning hoping to get it for burial. I don’t know who the elderly man claiming my daughter’s body is,” said Njeri, who lost all her property in the tragedy.

When The Standard visited, she was in a temporary structure she has been calling home since her house was swept away. She collected old iron sheets with which used to put up the structure.

Memories of the tragedy are still fresh in the minds of many residents.

Mother of nine Milka Nduta is busy sifting through debris looking for anything that can be of help. 

Her house was swept away together with property of unknown value.

“Life has been tough since the tragedy. I don’t even know where to start,” Ms Nduta said.

She does casual work for a living and like Njeri, she collected old iron sheets from the debris and used them to build a temporary structure where she lives with her children.

“I had nowhere to take my children after the (displaced people’s) camp was closed. That is why I decided to collect these iron sheets and put up a structure for my family,” she says.

Another survivor, Joseph Kamau, is yet to recover from the loss of his four children - Jane Wambui, Isaac Kamau, James Karanja and Gideon Wachira. He wishes the Government could resettle him.

Mr Kamau, a boda noda rider, lived in Nyakinyua before the tragedy. He now lives in his elderly mother’s house in Nyandarua village after his house was destroyed. He also lost everything, including his motorcycle.

“Each time I pass here, I recall the deaths of my children. They used to give me hope. I would not settle back here; this locality is traumatising to me,” said Kamau.

He added that the Sh30,000 the Government gave to help him resettle was too little.

“Even the soil was washed away and we have been left with rocky ground that cannot sustain crops. Most of us relied on farming for a living.”

“I can’t farm and I cannot also continue with my boda boda business. I don’t know where to start.”

Meanwhile, learning is slowly picking up at Nyakinyua Primary School, which lost 14 pupils in the tragedy.

Deputy head teacher James Wanjohi said the school also lost its library, six classrooms, desks, a store and pit latrines.

“Normalcy is slowly returning but it has been difficult for teachers and pupils. Sometimes, learners cannot concentrate in class because they lost their friends and family members.”

Solai shopping centre was also destroyed. Only a few structures that withstood the raging waters indicate where the centre once stood.

Joseph Masaba, a local businessman, told The Standard he lost everything during the tragedy, including his clients.

“Operations here have not resumed. We are still mourning those who died. I feel sad after losing several of my clients,” he said.

But even as the families continue to pick up the pieces, they are waiting for compensation.

Some of the victims claim chiefs and their assistants included individuals who were not affected on the list of those to be compensated.

A report by the Ministry of Interior  and Co-ordination of National Government on May 29 showed that at least 223 families benefited from the State donations.

Transport property

The Government reported that 149 tenants received Sh30,000 each to pay rent and buy food. Part of the money was to be used to transport their property.

Some 65 owners of semi-permanent houses destroyed by the floodwaters received Sh50,000 each to rebuild their homes.

At the same time, nine owners of permanent houses received Sh100,000 in addition to food.

Anne Wangari, who lost her two year-old daughter, said she had not received any help and was now relying on well-wishers.

John Mwangi, who represents the victims, claimed at least 40 families had not received any payment to facilitate their resettlement.

“There was no transparency when the list of beneficiaries was compiled. It is said that individuals who did not lose anything received money,” said Mr Mwangi, a retired teacher who lost his wife, Virginia Wanjiru, and his house.

“My wife was swept by the floods and I also lost all my investment,” said Mwangi.

But Rift Valley Regional Co-ordinator Mongo Chimwaga said all victims benefited from the Government donations.

He said the only challenge came from paying 15 people who had not given their correct mobile phone numbers.

Mr Chimwaga emphasised that payments was made by the Kenya Red Cross Society through mobile money transfer services.

“There are cases where a family would list two people, for instance, a wife and husband, while others had a problem with their mobile phones,” the administrator said.