Residents told to vacate over fears of landslides

Mt Elgon District has been put on high alert following the Sunday landslides that buried three villages on the Ugandan side of the mountain.

Area DC Kassim Farah said people living on the slopes of the mountain have been advised to vacate. But, the evacuation was voluntary as no alternative land for resettlement was being provided, the DC said.

Heavy rainfall has continued pounding the area, making most roads muddy and impassable. Area residents are living in fear after a landslide in neighbouring Uganda buried more than 88 people while hundreds others are still missing.

Villages of Kimama, Kapkirongo and Chebwek on the slopes have been identified as those prone to slides. Most areas on the mountain slopes are unreachable as there are no roads. Poor road network in the area is complicating rescue operation in Nametsi Uganda.

Machines like earth movers cannot access the affected remote villages, leaving residents to dig through heaps of mud with spades and bare hands. At the same time, disaster preparedness teams have been dispatched to various areas susceptible to mudslides in parts of the North Rift region.

The Kenya Red Cross Society manager in charge of the North Rift region, Mr Patrick Nyongesa, said that teams have been sent to Annet area in Pokot Central and Lokori and Lotupoi in Turkana South, which have experienced mudslides in rainy seasons.

Other areas include Namanjalala in Trans Nzoia District, Tindiret, Lugari and parts of Kerio Valley. In Coast, residents in flood-prone areas have been asked to relocate to higher ground. Area PC Earnest Munyi has warned of residents of Tana Delta and Tana River districts following heavy downpour in other parts of the country.

Last year, more than 35,000 people were flooded out of their villages in several parts of Tana Delta District. Heavy rainfall in the upper part of the district caused River Tana to burst its banks at various points.

Reports by Erick Ngobilo, Barnabis Bii and Galgalo Bocha