• West Pokot is the worst-affected county with 58 lives lost and 1,500 people displaced
• Food and non-food donations have been received from among others the Red Cross, Action Against Hunger and Catholic Relief Services
The ongoing heavy rains have so far claimed the lives of 118 people countrywide, Government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna said in Kapenguria on Thursday.
The rains have affected 32 counties and destroyed property worth millions of shillings.
Oguna said the country needs more than Sh1.5 billion to restore the rains-related ruin.
More than 350,000 people have been displaced and are living in camps.
West Pokot county is the worst-affected with Oguna saying that 58 people have died. Seven others are missing and 1,500 displaced. The government needs over Sh20 million to repair damages.
“I want to dismiss reports in the media that over 50 people lost lives in West Pokot. The correct figure is 43 since we have their names. Government officers have helped us in identifying the affected and those who lost lives,” he said.
“Four days after the incident occurred we are still missing seven people and we fear they might be dead," he said.
Most of the dead are young people aged between seven to 20 years.
“Only two of the victims were over 20 - one was 45 and the other was in thirties. We have lost young energetic people who could have been the leaders of tomorrow,” he said.
Oguna said that many roads have been washed away. He identified education, health, agriculture as the sectors worst hit by the rains.
“Schools, bridges and health facilities have been destroyed. Over 11,000 animals have also died and crops on thousands of acres have been destroyed.”
Kenha has inspected the affected roads and is restoring them.
“Kenha has inspected all the roads in the country and rectified some. They are reconstructing some of the ruined bridges. They have also created diversions to ease transport on the affected roads,” he said.
He said the Kitale-Lodwar highway will be opened soon.
Trucks with Turkana oil are still parked at Kapenguria police station as four washed away bridges along the highway are repaired.
Food and non-food donations have been received from the Red Cross, Al Khair Foundation, Action Against Hunger, Catholic Relief Services, Lions Club, Kape Matt, KDF, national police and county governments.
Three camps –Tamkal, Parua and Nyarkulian – have been set up for those affected by the weekend landslides.
“The government has marked some areas as unsafe. Let's move to safer places,” Oguna said.
West Pokot county commissioner Apollo Okello said many people have moved to some of the camps although they were not affected by the landslides.
“Some people have been advised to abandon their homes and go to the camps to get help. We have a list of those affected and those are the people we are going to help. Those not affected should leave the camps and go back to their homes,” Okello said.
He at the same time called on residents to stop cultivating on hill slopes. The county has vast junks of virgin land in lowlands.