72,000 People Face Starvation In Baringo

The number of homesteads translates to about 72,000 people.

The hardest hit villages are Komolion and Nginyang where families have been forced to move away in search of water and pasture.

Many elderly people have been affected.

“I survive only on rice. Nothing else. But I get it from far,” said 70 year-old Chepurayai Loriya.

Baringo national drought management authority coordinator says a common response by relevant stakeholders is still far much below the target.

“It was coming to a budget of about 655 million for all the sectors combined and looking at the programs responding to drought in one way or the other was coming to around 322 million so we had a deficit of around 330 million shillings,” said Hussein Jirma.

Many homes in the villages have been deserted with the locals forced to share the limited water points with their livestock.

However, the authority has launched an initiative of donating goats to be slaughtered after every two weeks for 3 months to supply meat to over 50 affected families.

The locals have also called for the government to move swiftly to save the situation.

By Morgan Mueke