Residents of Mukindu village in Rurii location of Ol Kalou have protested after a hippo killed a calf belonging to a single mother and left the woman with a sprained ankle.
Agnes Wanjiku sprained her right ankle after the animal charged at her on Wednesday morning as she tried to scare it away.
She said the animal was in her compound at 1.30am. She opened the window and beat drums in an attempt to scare it off but that did not work. She called KWS officers but they said they could only tour the village during the day to assess the situation.
“Around 3am, it attacked my calf. I opened the door and went out to rescue it,” she told the Star.
Wanjiku said the hippo has been a frequent visitor at her compound at night when it terrorises her animals.
This prompted her to take her dairy cow to a neighbour’s compound in the evening and take it in the morning for milking.
She borrowed Sh38,000 to buy the cow and she has been doing manual jobs service the loan. So far, she has paid Sh12,000.
Wanjiku said it is unfortunate that the hippo killed the calf worth Sh15,000 before she could complete paying for its mother.
Charles Mwai said prior to going to Wanjiku’s compound, the hippo almost attacked him as he was going home at 8pm. The headlights of an approaching car scared off the animal which was at his gate, he said.
Mwai said his son was killed by a hippo in 2012. He said he got only Sh200,000 as compensation.
The residents said if the government, through the Kenya Wildlife Services, does not act with speed, they will kill the hippo for the sake of their safety. During the day, they said, the animal stays submerged in the private weed-covered Woni dam and comes out at night to destroy their crops and trouble their livestock.
They said despite informing the Kenya Wildlife Service and showing them the dam, no action has been taken yet the animal has terrorised them for years.
“We are fed up. If no urgent action is taken, we are going to open that Woni dam and kill the hippo,” Joe Gathiga said
Gathiga said his dairy cow was killed by hippos in 2017 but to date he has received no compensation despite visiting KWS offices many times. His neighbour Mathew Githaiga, whose cow was also killed in 2017, said he has not been compensated either.
“We know that the government gives out money for compensation. But to whose pockets we don’t know,” Gathiga said
Lydia Wairimu said the government should come out clear if Mukindu residents should vacate the village and leave their homes and farms to the animals, or if they should take their children to be fed at the Wildlife department.
Nyandarua KWS senior warden Gabriel Kiio on Wednesday evening said the matter has been reported to them and that they are taking care of it. He said once it is confirmed the calf was killed by the hippo, Wanjiku will get compensation form from their Nyahururu office.
Once the form is filled and submitted, it will go through formal deliberations at the county commissioner’s office, and the ministry headquarters at Nairobi, to determine if she will be compensated.
Edited by R.Wamochie
