Pokot mudslide exposes sloppy disaster response

A vehicle drives through a damaged bridge at Ortum in West Pokot. Weiwei and Sebit bridges were washed away by floods, cutting off transport between Kitale and Lodwar. Disaster coordination is still a challenge for Government agencies. [Kevin Tunoi, Standard]

The deadly mudslides and floods that hit West Pokot ten days ago, leaving 43 people dead, have exposed the country’s poor disaster response coordination.

Several teams comprising the county government, humanitarian organisations, Ministry of Interior and Coordination and political leaders were seemingly reading from different scripts in response to the disaster.

When the catastrophe struck on the night of November 23, the two levels of government gave conflicting reports on the death toll.

West Pokot Governor John Lonyangapuo put the death toll at 52 while the Ministry of Interior and Coordination pegged the number at 41.

Two days after the deadly deluge, the Interior Ministry estimated that Sh20 million would be needed to help affected families bury their loved ones, but the county proposed Sh70 million.

On Monday last week, political leaders from West Pokot hit out at the State over the release of relief food for survivors who were braving chilly weather in three evacuation camps in Nyarkulian, Parua and Tamkal areas.

Matiang'i aborted trip

On the same day, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and his Devolution counterpart Eugene Wamalwa cut short their trip to West Pokot.

They landed in Eldoret and returned to Nairobi to the disappointment of locals who expected quicker delivery of humanitarian aid with the arrival of the senior State officials. The officials blamed bad weather for the aborted trip.

Deputy President William Ruto later landed in Kapenguria town the same day and then flew to Muino, where 22 people were swept away by floods in Sigor, raising questions on why Government officials were not working as a team.

At least 450 survivors evacuated to safer areas waited for days for relief food and non-food items to arrive in distressingly cold camps as State agencies debated the best way to deliver supplies.

Political leaders also called into question the manner in which the State was distributing relief food, which was said to have been locked up in a store in Kapenguria while victims were going without food for days.

Elgeyo Marakwet Senator and Leader of Majority in the Senate Kipchumba Murkomen slammed the national government, saying it was not treating the disaster with the seriousness it deserved.

Wilson Rotino, a village elder in Muino, said he was a young boy when a similar disaster hit the area in 1969. But, he said, the magnitude was not as big as the November 23 catastrophe. He said the recent disaster may have been triggered by cultivation on sloppy areas of the county, which led to the deadly run-off.

“I was young in 1969 when heavy rains caused mudslides but during that time, only a few people lived on the hills. Most residents were pastoralists and never practised farming,” said Rotino.

By yesterday, food was yet to reach some affected locals in Parua village as some families began burying their loved ones who died in the deluge.

Relief food from well-wishers

Prof Lonyangapuo said relief food initially supplied to affected areas came from well-wishers including Al Khair Foundation, Council of Governors, Business Community of Kapenguria, Kenya Medical Supplies Authority, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and County Government of Turkana.

Lonyangapuo said there was a need to resettle locals living in landslide-prone areas to avert disasters in future.

He, however, described the resettlement process as complex, saying locals have lived in the area for ages and might not be ready to move out.

“These people have lived in these areas for decades and asking them to move out is not easy," he said, indicating that the resettlement could start after victims are buried.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei said the West Pokot disaster should necessitate the passage of Disaster Management Bill to ease coordination in disaster response.

In October, it took State agencies 13 days to recover the bodies of a woman and her daughter after their car plunged into the Indian Ocean at the Likoni Channel in Mombasa.

Early last month, an 11-year-old Standard Five pupil drowned in River Sosiani in Eldoret. It took local divers and Uasin Gishu County fire brigade officers 14 days to recover the body as disaster teams from the police were no-show.