• The father of four children asked well-wishers, county and national government to find him land where they can live.
• His video went viral in the social media calling for help while wading through waters at his home.
Image: MAURICE ALAL
A 58- year old partially blind man affected by floods in Nyando subcounty in Kisumu has appealed to the government to relocate him to safer grounds.
Francis Onam from Kakola Ombaka sub-location said his home is marooned by waters, putting his family at risk as hippos roam the area at night.
The father of four children asked well-wishers, county and national government to find him land where he can live.
His video went viral in the social media calling for help while wading through waters at his home.
Onam said the level of water in his home increased after an excavator was brought into the area to open up waterways, which flooded his home.
“It is not safe. I want to be moved. I don’t know where I can go. I have four children, I don’t know how to feed them,” he said.
Due to continuous flooding, he said, they have been suffering from malaria. “I started living here in 1990. We used to experience flood twice- April and August every year - but the current situation has worsened since last year,” he said.
Onam said they no longer do farming which they depended on for their livelihood and called for a permanent solution to the flood menace.
“We buy everything because of the flood. The only thing we get free is stagnant water,” Onam said.
He noted that Hippos are all over the area at night, adding that one cannot be sure whether he or she will live to see tomorrow.
Onam asked the county and national government to build dykes along River Nyando to control the perennial flooding.
“We depended on farming. Farms have now turned into a lake. Flood victims only rely on relief food which cannot sustain them,” he said.
Image: MAURICE ALAL
Another victim, Dorothy Owuor, said they have suffered for long and want the government to find a permanent solution.
“We have been experiencing on and off floods. We are displaced from our homes,” she said.
Currently, she stays in an evacuation centre with 15 other people. “We have nowhere to go and live. Our property is all damaged,” Owuor said.
She told the government to built dykes along River Nyando. This, she said, will control floods and enable them continue with their daily activities.
“We want to be in our homes and do farming. Relief food alone every flooding period cannot sustain us,” Owuor said.
A resident, Peter Ochieng, said: “It is something (the solution) that can be permanent, if the government can take the matter seriously. We’ve lost many lives because of floods in Nyando every year,” he said.
Kakola Ombaka assistant chief Jacob Ongudi said plans are underway to construct dykes. He said many people have suffered in the area due to floods.
“Many people have been displaced by floods for four months. Some have not gone back to their homes since last year November,” Ongudi said.
Their houses have been damaged, forcing them to live in tents, schools, and churches as the government finds the solution.
He, however, said Onam has refused to leave his home despite attempts to have him evacuated.
“Where he lives is the source of flooding. Water flows into the village through his home,” Ongudi said.
He added that they have talked with well-wishers to evacuate the old man to allow for the building of dykes. "We not only want to rescue the old man but many other people. He is not supposed to live there. We’re looking for land for the man,” Ongudi said.