Garissa flood victims appeal for help

Hundreds of Garissa residents displaced by floods on Tuesday urged the government to come to their aid as they are living in deplorable conditions.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, they claimed schools and colleges where they are camping have closed their latrines forcing people to relieve themselves in the open, increasing fears of cholera and other waterborne diseases.

Bula Kamor chairman Mohamud Abdi Omar, who is among 585 people camping at Garissa Vocational Training Centre, said they have been there for five days but have not received any help from the government.

He said their suffering has been compounded by lack of water in the camps saying children, people with disability and women are the most affected.

“This tent is supposed to accommodate four people but 12 people have been forced to squeeze themselves in it. I was sleeping when you came because I didn’t sleep last night. The situation is too bad. We need urgent intervention,” he said.

Omar blamed elected leaders whom he said normally move door-to-door looking for votes during elections but forget those who elected them when calamities strike.

“It's very unfortunate that today we lack toilets, water, and a place to sleep and those we elected are not even aware of our conditions,” he added.

According to Kenya Red Cross Society, the floods have displaced 7,278 households in Garissa county.  Garissa Township is the worst-hit, with 4,372 households displaced.

The displaced individuals are spread in seven camps in Garissa Township including Yhuga, Garissa National Polytechnic, Vocational training, Kasuko primary, Jairbu primary and Ziwani.

Mama Halima Hussein said the majority of people in the camps were farmers who have also lost their livelihood to the floods. 

“Some people have lost their houses, animals and crops to the floods. We are appealing for mobile toilets to ease the already difficult situation,” she said.

Pastoral Girl Initiative, a local non-governmental organisation has been helping floods victims with non-food items including soap, shelter and water tanks.

Organisation director Fatuma Kinsi described the situation as critical, saying a multi-sectoral approach is needed to alleviate the suffering of the flood victims.

She said the organisation has been involved in El Niño preparedness with funding and technical support from Oxfam. Kinsi said they have formed a rapid response team to respond to inter-county emergencies.

At Mororo, some of the displaced people have been spending the night in the open.

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama has issued a stern warning to rogue traders taking advantage of the current floods to hoard essential commodities that their licences will be revoked.

Four days ago, Kenya National Highways Authority temporarily closed the Garissa-Nairobi highway and Garissa-Mombasa road after sections of the roads were swept away by the raging floods.

The two major roads are not only the entry points to Garissa town and the rest of the Northeastern region but are used by traders transporting supplies from Nairobi, Mombasa and Central Kenya.

Jama said his office has received several complaints from residents that some traders are holding back essential commodities to create an artificial shortage so they can hike the prices and make a killing out of people's suffering.

The governor said hoarding of essential commodities is criminal and those found doing so will be severely punished.

Jama said there are reports that traders are hoarding sugar, maize flour, milk, cooking oil, among others essential items.

A spot check revealed that the prices of essential commodities have doubled or even tripled, with a kilo of sugar now retailing at Sh500 up from Sh200, 2kg packet of maize flour is selling at Sh600 from Sh240 and a carton of milk at Sh1,000 from Sh450.