LODWAR: Acute water crisis has hit Kibish border town along the Kenya –Ethiopia border in Turkana North sub counties following a looming drought that has shrunk pasture and water resources in the region.
More than 5,000 pastoralist families with 10,000 livestock are facing a serious shortage of water and pastures after several water points dried up last month as a result of dry spell that has hit the region.
Kibish Sub County Commissioner Erick Wanyonyi confirm that the drought situation has reached an alarming stage in the region.
Wanyonyi said several water sources have dried up following a prolonged drought condition that has affected both human and livestock population in the region.
He said an alarming food crisis has been reported in remote areas with cases of malnutrition among children less than five years reaching unprecedented levels.
“We are now worried that several water wells and pans have dried up in the region. This situation has put the lives of the people and the livestock in pathetic conditions’, Wanyonyi said.
The sub County Commissioner raised a red flag that the drought condition is likely to push several pastoralists to conflicts border point along Southern Sudan and Ethiopia borders.
The administrator said drought has overstretched water and pasture resources in the area. He said the two community boreholes which serve the entire population have been overworked by large herds of animals that overcrowd the water source.
“We fear this borehole which uses the generator to pump water may stale because it is being overworked. We are exploring other options to save the situation”, Wanyonyi said.
Turkana County National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) Coordinator Julius Taigong said the current drought risk is at medium level and that no rain is expected this February 2015.
Taigong added that a looming dry spell is expected to increase significantly due to shortage of rainfall in the region.
“We are now at a medium risk levels due to failures of short rains in the region. We anticipate dry spell to increase significantly ahead of wet season which we expect in March to May 2015”, Taingong said.
Drought Early warning bulletin January 2015 seen by The Standard indicates that a Biophysical indicator reveal a slight reduction of vegetation conditions index (VCI-3) from 56.58 December last year to 47.41.
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