Residents of Migori raise alarm over possible cholera outbreak

Residents of Isebania town in Migori County have expressed fear over a possible cholera outbreak due to poor sanitation in the town.

Isebania, which lies at the border of Kenya and Tanzania, is said to have heaps of uncollected garbage which has piled on the main highway connecting the town to Tanzania and other parts of Migori County.

“Sometimes the garbage stays for more than two months without being collected. We are worried of a possible cholera outbreak in the region if relevant authorities fail to reinforce sanitation,” Thomas Chacha, a resident, decried.

A majority of the residents blame the county government for the matter, accusing them of failing to collect the garbage from designated dump sites within the town, therefore forcing residents to dump litter on Kenya-Tanzania highway.

Meanwhile, traders operating in the town have threatened not pay tax to the county until they clean up the town, arguing that they were not getting services which they pay for.

However, Migori County Executive Committee member in charge of environment, Elijah Odhiambo, assured the residents that all the garbage will be collected by the end of next week.

Migori County has been experiencing cholera outbreaks since the beginning of 2015. Last year it was reported that six people died while 80 others were in critical condition.

The outbreak saw the county government ban hawking of food in the county until the situation was contained.