Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa has asked artisanal miners to suspend their operations until when the rains will subside.
He said artisanal mining sites are one of the high risk areas in the county especially during heavy rains.
“We need to caution those residents in the gold mining area to keep off mining for now because it is a high-risk area,” he pointed out.
He noted that the rains have already affected some areas in the county along River Nzoia including Chevaywa Ward in Lugari Sub County, Namamali Ward in Matungu, Etenje in Mumias West and Kisa Central in Khwisero.
He said reports from his officers indicate that the Shinyalu-Ingolomosio road has been cut off with Shichenje-Shianda road rendered impassable.
The Governor said the rains have also caused erosion of soil asking residents across the county to be cautious.
“We have also received reports of cases of sinking toilets especially in some schools in Mumias West. We have already sent our team to assess the situation and act,” he noted.
“We have received reports that Malaria has now become prevalent, we are now having a programme of distributing mosquito nets through the Ministry of Health and the department of public health,” the governor added.
He said the county government has sent a team to offer the necessary support to families which have been affected by the overflowing River Nzoia.
“Our agricultural officers are also assessing the impact on this so that necessary steps can be taken in collaboration with the national government,” he pointed out.
Due to the increasing rains, the governor has formed a team of disaster preparedness to act on and prevent challenges caused by the rains.
The disaster preparedness committee comprises officers from the county government, the national government and other partners from the private sector and non-Governmental organisations including rescue teams.
“We are also trying to educate our people to stay safe,” he added.
He also divulged that as part of climate change mitigation measures, the county government has set a target of planting 5million trees every year to contribute towards the National government target of 15 billion trees by 2032.
“So far we have been able to plant 500 000 trees and we want to make it a culture in that any time we go to an event or a meeting, we start with tree planting before any other activity so that we achieve our 15 billion target,” he pointed out.
The governor revealed that the county has a forest cover of over 90 per cent and more efforts are put in place to protect and preserve the Kakamega Forest and trees that are grown across the county.
“Very soon we will be launching the Second phase of Fencing off Kakamega Forest. We have mobilised almost Sh100 million. We have contributed Sh60 million as Kakamega county, Vihiga County government together with other partners have raised the rest of the amount,” he noted.
By Moses Wekesa
