•Residents of Turkana and Baringo counties ravaged by hunger
•The only dispensary at Mukutani is ill-equipped and not operational.
More than 800 bandit attack victims resettled in Mukutani, Baringo South constituency desperately need relief food.
“My people are in dire humanitarian crisis. They have never received any substantive food and medication,” MP Charles Kamuren told the Star on Tuesday.
The victims had in March 2016 fled to Eldume Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp near Marigat town after an attack by suspected Pokot bandits in which 11 people died. Their homes were torched and thousands of livestock stolen.
They are now settled in temporary structures in Mukutani and Ruggus.
“Our people have nothing to eat as the situation worsens every day,” Leshaan Olesupen, a resident, said and called for government assistance.
An outbreak of malaria has hit the area and the sick travel 50km for treatment at either Tangulbei or Marigat.
“The only dispensary at Mukutani is ill-equipped and not operational,” Olesupen said.
Kamuren also pleaded for the release of funds to fast-track the revival of irrigation schemes in Perkerra, Eldume, Sukutek, Loboi, Sandai as a long-term solution to hunger.
In the neighbouring Baringo North sub-county, 75-year-old Chepkwony Borjiroot died of hunger-related illness at Barketiew village on Sunday night.
“We just woke up on Monday morning to find the lifeless body of the old man. He had complained of hunger and stomach pain the previous evening,” Yatya resident Joseph Toroitich said on Monday.
Toroitich said the old man’s sickness got worse two weeks ago. He could not walk the more than 15km distance to Yatya centre to fetch water and buy food.
He was a beneficiary of ‘Inua Jamii,’ a government cash transfer programme for the elderly, but had not received the money for six months.
The hilly terrain and bad roads made it hard to take him to hospital. The body was not taken to Baringo Referral Hospital mortuary in Kabarnet town 50km away. It was still in his grass-thatch hut awaiting burial planned for Tuesday.
Yatya chief Jackson Keitany said more than 30,000 families in Baringo North and Baringo South are affected by hunger, the most vulnerable being children, women and the elderly.
The worst-hit areas in Baringo North are Chemoe, Yatya, Kagir, Ngaratuko, Moininin, Sibilo, Koiboware, Biretwonin, Chepkowel, Rondinin, Chepkew, Loruk, Chepkesin and Kapturo.
On Thursday last week, 45-year-old Lokunyale Kamusuk died of hunger and was buried at Kamusuk in Tiaty sub-county.
He was among 20 people who have died of hunger in Baringo and Turkana counties.
Baringo County Commissioner Henry Wafula insists nobody has died of hunger and that the government is doing everything possible to cushion the victims.
Over 10,000 pupils are likely to drop out of school due to the dire drought situation.