Families displaced by rising waters of Lake Naivasha start returning

Situation in Kihoto estate, Naivasha which flooded due to the rise in water levels from Lake Naivasha. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

Tens of families who were displaced by rising waters of Lake Naivasha have started trooping back to their flooded homes in Kihoto estate after water levels started to drop.

Home owners who had rented houses in nearby estates are leading the lot weeks after Nakuru County relocated over 3,000 families and paid for their rent.

The landlords are however in for a shock after finding that tens of the flooded houses had been vandalised by groups of youths in the informal estate.

The county warned that it would not go back to relocate the returning families if the water levels from the troubled water level rose again.

In the last two months, over 5,000 families were displaced from the estate that is home to tens of flower farm workers with experts yet to determine the cause of the phenomena.

The Chief Officer for Disaster Management Joyce Ncece noted that water levels in some parts of the estate had started to drop in the last two weeks.

She noted that this had given landlords home with some already returning to their homes despite the country relocating them a couple of weeks back.

“Some of the affected families including both landlords and tenants have returned back to their homes despite all the efforts by the county to relocate them,” she said.

Ncece said that the county had ensured that the vast estate had ample supply of fresh water after most of the boreholes and latrines were flooded.

She lauded efforts done by the department of public health in making sure that there was no disease outbreak after the latrines flooded washing human waste in to homes.

“We are keenly monitoring the situation and though water levels have dropped slightly, we are asking the affected families to stay away until the homes are certified as safe,” she said.

One of the landlords Peter Kibe told of their shock after finding that most of the homes had been vandalized with doors, windows, electric materials and roofs carted away.

The former civil servant said that he decided to return to his home as he could not afford to pay rent in the new estate and was ready to die in his house which he constructed using his retirement benefits.

“We are lucky as water levels around our house have dropped significantly but we need some repairs due to the damage caused by the water,” he said.