Farmers in Tana River county have called upon the county and national governments to come to their rescue and provide water for their dying crops.
The farmers in Garsen constituency, which has more than 700 acres of arable land where farming of different crops is ongoing, said their crops are failing due to the biting drought in the region.
Amos Kitsao, a farmer who owns eight acres where he has planted watermelons said the main water stream that was providing them with water has dried up.
"I have been a watermelon farmer for the past five years. I have always depended on this stream for irrigation, but recently, everything became hard due to lack of water," he said.
Kitsao said farmers decided to come together to dig up the river, hoping they would access water for their farms and domestic use.
"We are not the only people who are affected, shortage of water has caused problems in schools, hospitals and in our homes, therefore it is a great challenge facing the whole community," he said.
At the moment, the community has only one borehole which everyone is depending on to get water.
Women and children are said to be the most affected.
"We have women who wake up as early as 3am to go and queue to get water from the one borehole. Women and children suffer a lot," Kitsao said.
“We have close to 3,000 acres of land which have been affected, therefore, we are calling upon our leaders to come to the ground and find a way of helping us because we are suffering," he said.
Edward Mutuku, also a farmer who boasts seven acres of land of tomatoes said the plants are drying up due to lack of water.
“We have really been affected. We need to dig this river deeper so that people can get water," he said.
Osman Babo, another farmer, said the river that has been providing water not only for farming but also for cooking and drinking, started drying up in July.
He said more than 7,000 Garsen residents depend on that stream for water.
"Some political leaders have been using this during campaigns to woo voters therefore we are calling upon them to come to the ground to solve the problem," he said.
Garsen Central Public Health Officer Christopher Hiha said when there is no water, people tend to use any water available which is dangerous for their health.
"I want to tell people of Garsen to ensure they treat the water available to them before using it for domestic purposes because the water being used at the moment is not clean," he said.
He called upon those who are using water from the stream to visit public health offices to get water treatment products, and those who will not be able to treat the water to ensure they boil it before using it.
"This is also a season of drought, we want to call upon residents of Garsen to ensure the food they are eating is fit for human consumption,” he said.
Hiha said this is the time when people are at risk of being given expired food because they are preserved using chemicals that might be dangerous to people’s health.
"If any person feels any symptoms, kindly let them visit our health facilities for treatment, let us all ensure we stay in a clean environment for our good health," he said.
However, Garsen MP-elect Ali Wario blamed the county government and the Tana River Water and Sewerage Company board accusing it of not ensuring there is enough water for the residents.
"Water challenge is real, but I am surprised with the management of the water department in the county because people are paying water bills," he said.
He said after taking the oath of office, he will call for a meeting with the Tawasco board to resolve the problem.
"We do not have problems with water in Garsen, the problem is the leadership and management. I will work towards ensuring that in five years, we will be having a long-lasting solution to this water challenge,"
Tana River County Senator-elect Danson Mungatana called upon the national and county governments, non-governmental organisations, and other entities to come out and help in solving the water problem in Garsen.
"There is a big problem of water shortage in Garsen. We call upon the national and the county governments, NGOs, and private institutions to try and supply water to the community because out of the 14 water pumps they are depending on, only one is functional,” he said.
-Edited by SKanyara
“WATCH: The latest videos from the Star”
