Meru residents want rivers' names changed to 'avert calamities'

Mbeu Ward MCA John Muguna speaks along the bank of river Thanantu in Tigania West, Meru County. [Phares Mutembei, Standard]

Residents living near two rivers in Meru County want the names changed to ward off calamities.

They claim this is because several people have died after the Thanantu and Ikamati rivers burst their banks following heavy rains.

The residents who live near the two rivers said even the names alone were a bad omen, hence their calls for a name change.

Thanantu is a permanent river whose source is the sprawling Nyambene hills in the northern part of Meru and which flows to Tharaka before draining into the Tana River (which then drains into the Indian Ocean), has been an important socio-economic feature.

Though residents in Meru and parts of Tharaka Nithi counties have used its waters for agriculture and domestic use, it has also been a source of tragedy.

Mbeu Ward MCA John Muguna and residents of Kiorimba in Tigania West recall in 1999, eight people died after they were swept away by its raging waters following torrential downpours.

Mr Muguna said not only has it “killed” people before, but it has been a source of misery for the people after the river floods destroyed large areas of crops when it rains heavily.

When it burst its banks, villages and farms were flooded, and several families at Kiorimba in Meru were displaced last week, just as it does each time it rains heavily.

Recently, tens of families were displaced at Gatunga in Tharaka Nithi after the river burst its banks.

“Loosely translated, Thanantu means the river that takes the people. Perhaps it is a good thing to consider a name change because it has caused disasters. Maybe we should cleanse the river and change its name,” he opined.

He said: “The river has caused a lot of pain,” he said, noting that school-children, farmers and others along its course had been adversely affected in one way or another.

River Ikamati, which flows Igembe North and Igembe Central, claimed one life last week after a man in his 40s drowned in it, following heavy rains pounding the region.

Residents there are calling on the government to construct bridges on it, but a section wants its name changed too because it signals calamity.

“Ikamati means a river that ferries things, or people, away. If you ask me, I would want the name changed because it signifies tragedy. We are reaching out to elders or clerics to consider our proposal,” said Dennis Mutwiri, a resident of Ndoleli in Igembe North.