Residents of Tana North in Tana River county have raised concerns over the increase in poaching cases in court.
Hirimani MCA Ismail Kodobo said people are arrested and put behind bars for seven to 10 years because of poaching as they try to get food for their families.
“If you go to court, poaching cases are on the rise because people are killing animals for food as others kill and sell the meat so that they can provide food for children,” Kodobo said.
“And if you are arrested with even a small quantity of bush meat, you will be treated as if you have been found with hard drugs.”
He said drought has ravaged the county, especially Tana North, where livestock have been dying due to lack of food and water.
The MCA urged the county and national government to treat the matter as an emergency because the situation is bad.
“The other day we saw the president's team bringing food, but in my area, we did not receive any. In other counties they have started water trucking projects,” Kodobo said.
Sala MCA Mahmoud Ali said women and children are suffering as their husbands leave home to go look for food in the forest.
He said the governor should find a proper way of solving water and food problems.
Ali said MCAs in the area are ready to work with the two levels of government.
"We are getting help from our sponsors but that is not enough, the number of people is high and the cash transfer is not enough,” he said.
Nominated MCA Maimuna Makka said women in Tana North have to walk long distances in search of water.
“Women walk over 13km to look for water and when they arrive there, they find a long queue so they have to spend the whole day waiting for their turn to draw water. Some get home as late as 1am,” she said.
Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana urged the national and county governments to allocate more funds for water projects in the region.
“We have agreed with the governor that there are short term interventions that we need to put into consideration so that we can find a solution that will reduce the problem in Delta where a lot of communities do not have water,” he said.
Governor Dhadho Godhana said they started their second term in office by putting in place response measures to address the water problem.
“We have been digging boreholes across the county, something which is still ongoing. We have so far dug 10 boreholes which are equipped and are in use,” he said.
Godhana said three dams are being constructed under the Small Irrigation and Value Addition Project.
He said that before the Covid-19 pandemic, his administration had agreed under the North and Northeastern Development Initiative (NEDI) programme to construct five dams, each costing Sh200 million. He said the funds were cut when Covid-19 came.
“Initially, Sh200 million had been allocated for construction of a mega dam at Aboye but the funds were reduced to Sh100 million and later cut off completely,” Godhana said.
He said the county has always collaborated with other stakeholders and before the election, they held a meeting with agriculture and water stakeholders and agreed to work together.
The governor spoke during his first meeting with MCAs at the county assembly premises on Tuesday.
Edited by A.N
