Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kithure Kindiki has ordered an immediate inspection of all private and public water reservoirs and dams.
Prof. Kindiki ordered the County Security and Intelligence Committees (CSICs) to conduct the exercise in the next 24 hours and give recommendations where compulsory evacuation and temporary resettlement are necessary.
This comes on the backdrop of Old Kijabe dam burst, leading to a mudslide that, by the time of going to press, had killed 45 people.
Kindiki, in a statement, said that the government is deeply concerned by the loss of life and destruction of public and private property occasioned by the ongoing floods.
“There are reports of continued risky behaviour by motorists and pedestrians and casual treatment by members of the public of weather forecasts and voluntary evacuation advisories,” said the CS.
He added that some unscrupulous people, in order to benefit from people in distress, are constructing and operating rudimentary canoes and boats, transporting stranded people for cash, and risking their lives as well as those of their passengers.
“All County Security and Intelligence Committees should deploy enforcement teams to urban and rural road spots prone to storm water or where the water has breached the bridge,” said Kindiki.
The CS explained that this move will prevent motorists and pedestrians from dangerous crossovers, and he warned that those who defy the orders will be arrested and charged with attempted suicide or attempted murder, as the facts of the case may be.
“We have also ordered our security personnel to prevent the transportation of passengers across flooded rivers or storm waters by unsafe canoes or boats and arrest inexperienced and unscrupulous people taking advantage of the prevailing situation to make cash from persons in distress,” said Kindiki.
He said that the government is coordinating all its relevant agencies and partners to prevent further loss of lives and property and to support all those who have been affected by the ongoing torrential rains.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
