- The subcounty is semi-arid and the situation has been worsened by rains and coronavirus.
- MP said many people who were employed in local businesses such as bars and eateries were no longer able to support their families.
Image: ALICE WAITHERA
Maragua MP Mary Waithera on Wednesday distributed relief food to over 2,000 people in her constituency.
The MP issued out over six tonnes of maize flour and rice at Saba Saba Primary School and Kamahuha town.
“People are hungry. They came out in such large numbers that I had to divide the food I had among them all,” she said.
Beneficiaries also received bar soap and cooking oil. More will be issued in Maragua Ridge and Mithini.
Waithera said she bought some of the items with her money while others were donated by partners including local firms such as the Kakuzi fruits processing company.
She said her priority was the elderly but other needy people came out when they heard that free food was being issued.
The MP noted that her constituency is largely semi-arid and that locals suffer from drought, with the situation worsened by the coronavirus.
Many people who worked in local businesses and farms to support their families are unable to earn a living, causing untold suffering.
Others who travelled to the neighbouring Kiambu county to work in coffee estates can not do so now because of the lockdown, the MP said.
This has left numerous people seeking casual work which is not available locally.
Some families had also been affected by floods in Maragua Ridge due to swollen rivers, she said.
“Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa was here early in the week and told us to collect data on the families affected by rains so that the government can rebuild their homes,” she said. Those whose homes had been rendered uninhabitable by landslides will be relocated.
She lauded Wamalwa for providing food to persons displaced by floods and landslides.
The MP also commended the government for starting two irrigation projects to help make the constituency food secure.
Maragua IV Dam will be built at a cost of Sh800 million while Nginda water project will cost Sh217 million.
Waithera, however, reiterated the need for the national government to stop capital projects and concentrate on urgent needs arising from the heavy rains and coronavirus.
“We are also hoping that the government will put measures in place to gradually rebuild the economy because we still have projects such as free maternity services, free education and the cash transfer to the vulnerable that need funding,” she said.
She called on Kenyans to continue observing the guidelines issued by the government on Covid-19 to ensure the virus is controlled fast.
Last week, Murang’a woman representative Sabina Chege also distributed food to about 5,000 homes across the county.
Edited by Henry Makori