Baringo Governor Benjamin Cheboi has constituted a 10-member committee to address the current flood situation in the vast county.
Speaking at a Kabarnet resort on Monday, Governor Cheboi said that the multi-sectoral team, to be led by County Acting Director for Disaster and Risk Management Michael Baimet, was expected to come up with both short- and long-term measures to mitigate the natural disaster.
The governor revealed that the team would burn the midnight oil and table a comprehensive report of the current situation in the county within 24 hours in order to advise on areas of mobilisation.
He regretted that there was a likelihood of thousands of displaced residents, sleeping out in the cold, who needed to be separated to avoid cases of gender-based violence amongst men, women, and children.
“The affected households urgently need relief food and non-food items, including mosquito nets and sanitation facilities, as well as health and nutrition interventions during this flooding period,” he added.
Cheboi, who was accompanied by County Commissioner Stephen Kutwa, County Assembly Deputy Speaker Kipruto Kimosop, and County Police Commander Julius Kiragu, urged all stakeholders present in the meeting to forward pictures, numbers of the affected people, and properties as evidence in order to guide the report.
Kutwa, in his remarks, urged residents to exercise caution by moving to higher and safer grounds during this rainy season to avert losses of lives and properties.
He noted that the rains, which have pondered the area for the past two weeks, have rendered some roads in the county impassable and destroyed vegetation cover, especially in the lower parts of Baringo South and North Sub-counties.
Kimosop, who called on the county committee to get accurate data after comparing notes with the various stakeholders, urged both levels of governments to remove unnamed barriers, which he said were limiting funding for such disasters.
Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) County Coordinator Caleb Kibet said his organisation conducted a two-day rigorous assessment and managed to identify 1,200 households and 29 affected schools in the county.
Kibet stated that they managed to evacuate 1,048 individuals in Baringo South, noting that no casualties have been reported due to flash floods in the county so far.
He added that the evacuated people in the last two days of the intense rescue mission were able to be settled into six camps, with Loitip and Iti Primary Schools hosting the largest number of households at 476 and 192, respectively.
By Benson Kelio and Benard Jumba
