Families displaced by Boni forest operation to get food aid

Families living in camps due to the security operation in Boni forest will get food aid.

The aid of over 200 bags of maize, rice and beans is to be distributed to more than 3,500 Boni villagers by today, said Lamu Senior Deputy Commissioner Paul Rotich.

The operation, which Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery launched two weeks ago, is meant to flush out Al-Shabaab terrorists taking cover in the vast forest.

The national government had promised to provide relief food and other support to villagers who would be affected by the 90-day crackdown in and around the forest.

Mr Rotich yesterday said the relief food arrived on Monday in Lamu for distribution by today.

Only the families living in camps would get the supplies, he told the Nation by telephone.

A committee was making arrangements on how the food would be distributed, he added.

About 39 families that vacated their land in Milimani and Mangai villages are living in camps at Mswakini in Bar’goni, with 40 others camping at the Bodhai border between Lamu and Garissa counties.

Mr Rotich asked the affected villagers to remain calm.

“The county committee on disaster is discussing how the food will reach the families,” he said.

The families recently accused the government of keeping silent over their welfare even after they heeded the call to give way for the operation.

The families, particularly those at Mswakini and Bodhai camps, were in dire need of food, shelter and medication.

“We fled our villages with the hope that the government would give us aid,” said Ms Bonaya Ali, who is among those living in the camps. “I think we will have to leave this place and return to our villages where we can find water and food easily.”