Residents of Angalo village of Homa Bay Town constituency are living in fear after a group of marauding hippos invaded their farms in the wee hours of the night wreaking havoc to thier crops.
The residents expressed fears that the unknown number of hippos which emerge from Lake Victoria headed straight to their farms to feed on the crops and that attempts to wade them away turned futile.
Witnesses said decried that the wild animal turned hostile as villagers desperately attempted to keep them at bay from their farms forcing them to give in.
Simon Ogoma a villager at the scene told KNA that the wild animals were impoverishing them as the farms were their main source of livelihood.
Some of the affected farmers including Kennedy Ongware, Samuel Nyambok and Dorcas Atieno allayed fears that they had lost everything they had planted this season as maize, sorghum, kales, tomatoes, cabbages and onions crops were consumed during the invasion.
Ogoma called on the Kenya Wildlife Service to intervene and relocate the animals as well as compensate them for the losses. “Many people in this village depend on farming to earn a living. And that’s why we’re appealing to the government to urgently intervene.” Ogoma said.
Speaking to the press today, the residents threatened to picket at the national government offices in Homa Bay town should there be no quick response.
“People don’t sleep in houses here because they go to guard their farms at night against hippos. We need a permanent solution,” he said.
On his part, Ongware described the hippos as hot tempered and vicious adding: “The wild animals operate in groups and this makes it hard to drive them away from the farms.”
He said that they have reported the matter to the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) office but no action has been taken.
Nyambok and Atieno said the hippos damage their fences to gain entry into the farms. “It is from the farms that we get food and money to educate our children. The hippos are a major setback,” Atieno lamented.
Homa Bay KWS officer Jackson Kibor said they have received the report and that they are working out ways of restraining the wild animals.
Kibor however asked the residents to avoid farming in riparian lands which are prone to wildlife invasion. “We are working closely with the residents to control the hippos so that they don’t cause more damage. People shouldn’t farm in riparian lands near the lake,” Kibor said.
By Davis Langat
