Bungoma residents in landslide-prone areas ignore El Nino threat

Mt Elgon residents residing in landslide-prone areas have vowed to stay put despite the warning from the meteorological department of the impending El Nino rains.

Residents of Masaek, Kimama, Chemondi, Kapkateny, Sacho, Kamuneru and Sambocho said they were not ready to leave their ancestral land unless the national and county governments gave them alternative homes.

Poor planning

They decried the poor planning by the county government, saying they would rather die on their ancestral land than move to unknown locations where they would suffer most.

"If the Government has failed even to settle internally displaced persons living in Chwele, Mayanja, Kimilili and Kamukuywa market centres, who were affected by the Mt Elgon Land Defence Force and the 2008 post-election violence, can it settle us?" posed a resident.

Lydia Nafula from Chemondi in Cheptais sub-county said they were reluctant to move to new places where their children could contract diseases owing to change of temperature.

Kapkateny Ward MCA Ben Mukenda asked residents to be alert and leave once they see any threat that could lead to death or destruction of property in the area.

"I am calling on my people to be alert because the rains may last long and it could lead to death. Life is very important and we should prepare to protect it," he said.

The concerns come barely a week after Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka announced that the county would need Sh380 million to mitigate the effects of the impending El Nino rains.

Mr Lusaka said the county could raise Sh75 million but was seeking the balance of Sh305 million from the national government.

Emergency funds

He said that agriculture, which is the county's economic mainstay, will require an injection of Sh101 million followed by the health sector that will need Sh91.5 million, and then roads and infrastructure, whose rehabilitation will need a projected Sh52.5 million.

The governor said additionally, the water sector would need Sh35.9 million, education Sh22 million whereas Sh17.5 million would be required for emergency food aid.

Lusaka spoke last week during the inauguration of the 23-member Bungoma County Disaster Management Board chaired by Julius Bakasa.