- “The maize had done so well and we would have had such a good harvest but the monkeys have destroyed them all,” a farmer said.
- “The baboons are like human beings. They break down the door to get to the goats and eat them. The government needs to act swiftly,” another farmer added.
Image: COURTESY
Murang’a residents want the government to find a lasting solution to monkeys wreaking havoc in their farms and homes.
The monkeys have been destroying crops and stealing foodstuff from homes for years.
One of the victims, Alfred Maina, from St Mary’s estate in Murang’a town said three days ago he left his house briefly only to return and find the monkeys had accessed it through the kitchen window.
He said the monkeys had eaten a bunch of bananas and left the kitchen in a mess. They had also broken eggs that Maina had placed on a shelf while his tabletop gas cooker had been knocked down to the floor.
“I left for about 10 minutes only to get back and find my kitchen messy. I had noticed that there were many monkeys around the building but paid little attention and did not close my kitchen door,” he said.
In Mugoiri, Murang’a East, Jane Kamwaga said the monkeys have almost reduced them to beggars.
Kamwaga, a farmer who keeps dairy cows and farms bananas and maize, said she has had poor harvests as the monkeys eat the maize before they even mature.
“The maize had done so well and we would have had such a good harvest but the monkeys destroyed them all,” she said.
Kamwaga said the situation is even worse with bananas which she said she normally sells to supplement her income.
She said a meeting with Kenya Wildlife Services bore no fruit as the farmers were told to find ways of co-existing with the animals.
“Telling us to co-exist is not offering a solution. We are on the verge of asking for relief food if action is not taken,” the farmer said.
She said the government has the resources to rein in on the destructive animals that have reproduced in their farms and continue to multiply.
Image: ALICE WAITHERA
Kamwaga said once in a while, KWS officers are called in to help chase the monkeys from the neighbouring Mugoiri Girls High School.
The officers, she said, shoot in the air to scare them, causing them to flee into the neighbouring farms.
The farmer said the village that was once productive agriculturally has been reduced to near poverty as farmers are unable to engage in any meaningful agricultural activities.
In Kangema, farmers have also decried the menace as they complain that they expect little or no harvest.
Farmers in Iyego say the monkeys have been harvesting their maize, adding that the menace may lead to food scarcity.
They want the government to do an assessment of the damage caused by the animals and find a way of controlling them to save them from imminent hunger.
In Kabuta and Githuuri areas, farmers are grappling with baboons thought to be venturing out from the nearby Kiambicho forest.
The baboons, they said, have made it impossible for them to keep any domestic animals as they slaughter and eat them.
Mary Wanjiru, an elderly woman, said she now lives with the few chickens and goats she has left, in her house, to keep them away from the baboons.
She said sometimes the baboons break the door and make away with a few chickens.
“I am old and cannot do much farming so I rely on my chicken and goats for eggs and milk,” Wanjiru said.
She said it has become impossible to answer the call of nature at night due to fear of being attacked by the animals.
Susan Munanu said their farms have been left bare as the baboons remove the seeds they plant immediately after they are planted.
"Whatever remains, they uproot it before it matures."
She said KWS officers scare them away with guns once in a while but they return immediately after.
“What will we eat if they destroy everything we have? I had seven goats, all of which were killed,” Munanu said.
Joseph Mwangi, 83, said he once returned home to find his door wide open. The baboons had opened the door to his house and when a neighbour scared them away, they broke the door down as they ran off.
Mwangi lives alone next to Kiambicho forest and is forced to rely on donations as he cannot keep animals or farm.
“They are like human beings. They break down the door to get to the goats and eat them. The government needs to act swiftly,” he added.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)