• MP urges county and national governments to distribute more relief food
• Whole ward depends on one water point after others dried up
Image: JOSEPH KANGOGO
Starving Mbeere residents have been urged to eat wild fruits because they are healthy and nutritious.
Mbeere North MP Charles Njagagua on Tuesday said residents should not starve when there are fruits to eat.
"Where I come from, there are fruits like tamarind and others called Ngawa and Mburu. They grow in the bush but they are nutritious. When we find them we will devour them," Njagagua said.
He spoke on Monday after distributing relief food at Itira Day Secondary School.
Njagagua urged both the county and the national government to distribute more relief food.
Speaking to the press after distributing relief food, Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki said 22, 000 Mbeere residents are starving.
A spot check by the Star has revealed that the drought is worsening by the day. Kiambeere in Mbeere South and Muminji in Mbeere North are the most affected.
Women and children are trekking long distances in search of food and water.
Pregnant women, children and the elderly are the most affected. They have turned to wild fruits.
Families sit along Gacabari-Kiritiri Road to beg for food and water from travellers.
Throughout the day, they endure the scorching sun and chase after vehicles hoping to secure something to quench their thirst and fill their hungry stomachs.
Caroline Wawira of Itira village in Muminji ward said women spend most of their days in harvesting wild fruits in nearby bushes.
Wawira expressed worries elderly women and children might succumb to hunger. “Some of our old family members are left at home without food or water."
Along Gangara-Siakago Road, women are seen searching for water, jerricans atop donkeys.
Gangara MCA Newton Kariuki called on residents to share available water resources amicably.
He said most water points had dried up and residents from different parts of the ward were depending on one water point. "Thura borehole is the only one around, share the resource peacefully as we wait for the rains," Kariuki urged.
Children who cannot trek for long distances dig holes in dried-up streams to get water.
They have to wait for hours for the water to trickle through the holes for them to fill their jerrycans.
Edited by R.Wamochie