East African Community, Arid and Semi – Arid Lands (ASALs) and Regional Development Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza has reaffirmed the Government’s plan to resettle all flood victims in the country and close all the camps.
Ms Malonza said the Government was working on a longtime resettlement strategy to resettle the victims of the recent floods who are in 79 camps in the whole country in the next three months, adding that some of the areas in the country were so badly devastated by the floods that the people cannot go back since they are inhabitable.
“In such cases where the land was rendered inhabitable by the floods, the Government has plans to resettle the people on alternative land which will be acquired around the country,” the CS stated.
She was speaking when she visited the victims of floods that hit Maai-Mahiu area in Naivasha on Wednesday.
Malonza was accompanied by the state department for Special Programmes Principal Secretary Kello Harsama.
Malonza who donated 1,500 iron sheets to Maai- Mahiu flood victims said out of 155 households that were affected by the floods in Maai-Mahiu, 83 have been helped to rent houses as a stop- gap measure as Government finalises plans to resettle them, while 55 households have been integrated with loved ones who were ready to accommodate them.
The remaining families are camping at the Prayers Beyond Boundaries (PBB) run by tele-evangelists Lucy Wa Ngunjiri.
This was after all the 155 flood victims were relocated from Ngeiya Secondary School where they were camping earlier in order in order to pave way for schools` reopening which took place three weeks ago.
The CS noted with concern that many children, especially the victims of the Maai-Mahiu floods are still traumatised and called on teachers and other specialists to come up and give them psychological support so that the children can go back to school when they are in good mental status.
Malonza said 1,956 Schools were affected by the devastating floods in the country and the Government through the Ministry of Education is working out plan to rehabilitate the infrastructure and the Members of Parliament (MPs) have also been urged to use part of the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) to help renovate the infrastructure in these schools.
Wa Ngunjiri called on the Government to hasten the resettlement process so that the victims of the floods can move on with their lives.
In the wee hours of Monday April 29, residents of the old Kijabe town and surrounding villages in Maai- Mahiu were awoken by roaring sounds of raging waters after a night of heavy downpour that left a massive trail of destruction in its wake.
The water came gushing downstream from the upper part of the Kijabe hills and annihilated hundreds of homes in the Mai Mahiu area of Naivasha. Sixty-three people died in the tragedy and several others are still missing. About 112 people were hospitalised in different hospitals after the incident.
Over 300 people have been confirmed dead in the floods around the country with over 200,000 families displaced and tens of others still missing in 33 affected counties.
By Mabel Keya – Shikuku
