Mavoko residents have called on the government to supply them with relief food due to Covid-19 effects.
Area Maendeleo Ya Wanawake chairperson Angeline Mutethia said they needed food donations since they were hungry.
Mutethia said the needy residents had earlier received some relief food from the government, local leaders and some corporate organisations but it wasn’t sustainable.
“We need food, there is hunger. Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua, Transport CAS Wavinya Ndeti, the national government and some private companies earlier supplied the locals with food donations but they were neither enough nor sustainable,” Mutethia told reporters in Athi River on Thursday.
She said although some families had got reprieve since their children had been hired by Kazi Mtaani programme, others were suffering especially those with young children and the elderly.
Mutethia said the youth were busy and their families able to meet their needs from the government’s Kazi Mtaani initiative.
“Kazi Mtaani has improved livelihoods. Youths are busy and have no time to engage in crime. It should be extended,” she said.
She added, “The elderly can’t engage in Kazi Mtaani programme but need to fend for their families. This calls for government intervention through relief food donations.”
Mutethia said suicide cases due to trauma were on the rise in parts of Machakos county. She said the government should allow children to attend churches and mosques for counseling.
“I urge the government to allow children go to churches and mosques so that the clergy can counsel them. They need to be transformed from their bad behaviours,” Mutethia said.
The women's leader said the long schools closure had exposed many children to various vices including drug abuse, child labour, crime and prostitution.
Mutethia said children should be mentored in churches and mosques to prevent teenage pregnancies.
Machakos county was flagged as having more than 4,000 pregnant schoolgirls between March and May after Covid-19 was reported in the country.
“There are so many children roaming around the estates, some get impregnated in the process,” Mutethia said.
She said Covid-19 had hurt the residents as the majority of women earlier engaged in casual labour for survival and needed to be cushioned by the government to do business.
Edited by Henry Makori
