Accommodate pastoralists in search of water, ranchers urged

By Antony Gitonga

The Government has called on ranch owners around Lake Naivasha to allow pastoralists access to water as drought continues to bite.

With the herders losing scores of animals due to failed rains, the Provincial Administration has admitted that the district is facing a crisis.

According to Naivasha DC Hellen Kiilu, the district disaster preparedness and management committee was engaging farmers over the water issue.

"The current drought has adversely affected members of the Maasai community and we are talking to farmers and ranchers around the lake to let the livestock get access to water," she said.

Speaking to the Press, the DC said that hundreds of pastoralists and their livestock from neighbouring districts had invaded Naivasha in search of pasture.

She called on them to respect the sanctity of private land, adding that anyone breaking the law would be arrested and charged in court. "We understand the situation but we shall not allow herders to stray into private land in the name of seeking pasture for their animals," she cautioned.

Kiilu admitted that the prolonged drought had already created animosity between herders and the ranchers.