From drought, hunger to floods: No respite for Turkana residents

Ekal Akide, 73, a herder from Kaitese village, Loima subcounty, walks along the banks of Tiya seasonal river retrieving the carcases of his livestock killed by floods.

The husband of three wives and father of 16 children looks dejected as he retrieves the carcases of goats, sheep, cows and camels swept by floodwaters following heavy rains.

Despite the inception of devolution and discovery of oil, poverty, underdevelopment, water shortage, floods, drought and hunger persist in Turkana.

It had been hoped that with the cash from oil proceeds and the Equalisation Fund, as well as development projects by the county government, residents’ lives would change for the better.

Majority of residents still depend on pastoralism for their livehood,  and food aid from well-wishers, humanitarian agencies, the county and national governments when supplies run out.

Akide says he has incurred huge losses with the death of his livestock, which he depended on to feed his family.

“For many years we have been haunted by perennial floods, drought and hunger, which keep us perpetually in poverty. Early in March I lost my goats, camels, sheep, and cow to the devastating drought,” he says.

“The prolonged drought that started last year in December didn’t spare my livestock as pastures, water sources including boreholes and water pans dried up leading to death of about 1,000 animals. Only 150 animals survived.”

The longed-for rain turned into a curse instead of offering relief. His 600 animals, which were recovering from the drought, were swept away by floods. He is only left with five goats, two camels and a donkey.

He says the government has beefed up security and cattle rustling is no longer a threat, but floods, drought and hunger remain a thorn in the flesh.

It was expected that with oil discovery at the Lokichar basin the fortunes of residents would change, with funds channelled to development initiatives to fight poverty.

In March statistics showed that around 805,000 people out of 1.2 million in Turkana faced drought and starvation. Two people from Elelea and Kang’irisai villages in Turkana Central starved to death, according to residents.

Kang’irisai chief John Ekwar confirmed one person had died of hunger.

“There is hunger in the region because of the biting drought that has killed one person. However, reports from residents show that two people have died of hunger. We are yet to confirm the report,” he said.

Residents, however, accused the authorities and county officials of hiding information from the public, and said more than 20 people have died of hunger in Turkana.

Governor Josphat Nanok said he did not receive reports of any deaths and he only heard of them in the media.

The national government also denied reports of hunger-related deaths. It said the victims died of other causes.

“Yes, deaths were there but they cannot be linked directly to drought. This can be as a result of sickness and other issues,” Deputy President William Ruto said.

As they say, rain is good for vegetables and the animals in the food chain.

But last Friday Turkana experienced heavy rains which caused Kawalase seasonal and Turkwel rivers to burst, displacing families and forcing many to spend the night in the cold.

County commissioner Wambua Muthama confirmed that two men from Lodwar lost their lives, while a woman from Kalokol was killed by a lighning strike.

Water shortage

Since the flooding, 70,000 residents of Lodwar and its environs are struggling to find clean water. Boreholes were destroyed by the floods.

Businesses have ground to a halt, transport disrupted and more than 3,000 goats killed.

Jacinta Ebenyo from Lodwar says they have no water to drink, wash clothes, cook and bathe.

“We have been told there will be shortage of water in the region since the floods destroyed boreholes but we have not been told when the problem will be solved,” she says.

Ebenyo says they are forced to trek many kilometres to dig shallow wells near seasonal rivers and fetch the muddy water.

At the weekend Nanok visited  the affected regions and said the boreholes will be fixed soon enough.

“This is flooding like has never been experienced before; the intensity of the water was very high resulting to blockage of water sources,” he said.

“Nine out of 12 boreholes that supply water to a population of about 70,000 people in Lodwar were destroyed by floodwaters. We are trying our best to fix them back immediately to avoid water shortage.”

Drought and hunger forced about 40,000 pastoralists to migrate to Uganda in search of water and pastures, others crossed to Ethiopia and South Sudan. In April last year at least 10,000 Turkana residents were displaced following heavy rains.

“...people living in Soweto, Napetet, Kawalase, Nabute and Nakwalele and Loitaktok villages have been displaced and their houses destroyed,” said then Disaster executive Charles Lokioto, now in the Ministry of Tourism.

He said 5,592 houses were destroyed by floodwaters and the victims were moved to Kenya Medical Training College and Kawalase Primary School while some were taken to their relatives’ homes. The government worked with NGOs and the national government to provide food, shelter and social support.

At the weekend Nanok said the rapid assessment team will continue to quantify the destruction and they will be able to give a report of the loss incurred.

Despite hunger deaths being reported in the media, the government denied the information.

Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, on a visit to assess the drought and distribute relief food in March, said Kenya has enough food and no citizen should die of hunger.

Peter Ekai, a resident of Kanamkemer, has urged the government and humanitarian agencies responding to the flooding to fix boreholes.

He criticises the government for not putting mitigation measures in place despite the meteorological department having warned of flooding.

Shadrack Ekadeli of Nakwamekwi says the government should have harvested the water.