The Red Cross has raised an alarm over the high number of people managing to sneak into the Mt Kenya region from Nairobi despite the high presence of the police at Thika road block.
According to the Red Cross’s Mt Kenya Regional Manager Gitonga Mugambi, the police are to blame for the laxity, which if unchecked will see an upsurge of the corona virus in the area.
Mugambi narrated how he allegedly travelled from Nairobi and on reaching the Thika road block witnessed someone pay Sh. 1,000 to a police officer and was allowed to continue with his journey.
“Though we appreciate the good work most of our police officers do while enforcing the law on the corona virus, there are a few who are openly soliciting money from desperate travelers especially those destined for Mt Kenya region which if unchecked will leave the entire region highly exposed to the pandemic, “he said.
The official noted that some people were travelling from Mombasa, Machakos, Kitui and Embu then Kirinyaga and to Nakuru and vice versa, a phenomenon that was only impacting negatively towards the fight against corona disease.
Pics by Irungu Mwangi
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“With a positive corona cases now reported in Meru County, the region is no longer safe and urgent measures should be undertaken to contain the spread of the virus amongst the residents,” he said.
At the same time Mugambi has declared that out of the 20 people in the region who have drowned in various rivers only nine bodies have been recovered so far.
Mugambi said due to the high volumes of water in the rivers following the heavy rains, it has become difficult for the divers to continue with the search for the missing bodies.
The official was speaking at Mianya village of Mwea Constituency when he presented various domestic items to 66 residents whose houses were swept away by raging waters following the ongoing torrential rains.
He warned the beneficiaries to refrain from the temptations of selling the items and urged the local NyumbaKumi elders to report anyone found to have sold the commodities.
Mugambi also asked the local provincial administrators to ensure the items were not sold and to black list anyone found to have contravened the directive.
He said the donations would have been brought earlier but there was a delay due to an acute transport problem the Red Cross is experiencing because most of their vehicles have been dispatched to serve in the badly hit Western Region.
“On realizing the urgent need to deliver these items I had to consult your MP KabingaWachira who agreed to hire this lorry which has today delivered them from our Nanyuki stores,” he said.
Wachira’s Personal Assistant Mathani Kaboi who was present during the presentation said the area leadership is working with any well-wisher and people of goodwill who bring this kind of material support to flood hit residents.
“We call upon the national government to also bring food to our flood and land slide victims as it was happening in other parts of the country in order to alleviate their sufferings,” Kaboi said.
Due to the geographical formation, most of Mwea is low lying and prone to floods whenever heavy rains occur.
Among the items donated were blankets, tents and water tanks, utensils, bar soaps, mosquito nets and water purifier sachets.
By IrunguMwangi
