Govt plans to resettle flood victims – Kenya News Agency

Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro has said the Government plans to resettle victims of the current flooding in the country, especially those who are unable to go back to their former homes.

Nyoro said some of the flooded areas have been extensively destroyed by the floods, making the areas unfit for human habitation, even after the floods subside, making it necessary to resettle these victims.

“Besides, there are Government institutions like schools which will also need to be relocated from the flooded areas, and all these require funding,” the MP said.

To this end, Nyoro, who is the Chair of the Parliamentary Budget and Appropriations Committee, revealed that the Government would move to Parliament to request for some emergency funding for this resettlement exercise.

He was speaking in Mai Mahiu in Naivasha on Monday when he visited the victims of last Monday`s flooding in the area.

The Committee Chair was accompanied by other MPs, including Ali Wario (Garsen), Gabriel Kagombe (Gatundu South), and nominated MP Wilson Sossion.

The trio donated Sh1 million to the Mai Mahiu flood victims.

Meanwhile, Nyoro said the law allows Government departments dealing with emergencies to spend up to 10 per cent of the funding at their disposal on these emergencies without prior authorization and advised the relevant departments to use this law to respond to the ongoing flood disasters around the country, adding that the Parliament would approve these expenditures as long as they were accounted for.

According to the Kiharu MP, the funds would go towards restoring infrastructure that has been damaged by the raging floods across the country as well as resettling those affected.

The Committee noted that some of the victims of the current flooding could not go back to their land since it was completely destroyed.

The National Assembly, through the Parliamentary Committee on Budget, has expressed its support for the government’s resolution to use up to ten per cent of the country’s budget towards mitigating the effects of the ongoing heavy rains that have wreaked havoc across different parts of the country.

So far, the death toll from the Mai Mahiu tragedy now stands at 52 people, but over 26 people were still missing since Monday`s tragedy.

The tragedy occurred in the wee hours of last Monday morning when a seasonal dam on the upper part of the Kijabe hills burst its banks, sending gallons of flash flood water gushing downstream and decimating hundreds of homes in the Mai Mahiu area of Naivasha.

112 people were hospitalised in different hospitals after the incident, with 32 still admitted to date.

Approximately 120 households which were being accommodated at Ngeya Girls Secondary School as a temporary shelter, have now been moved to a different location.

The move is aimed at allowing the school management to prepare for reopening at a future date after government postponement.

Hundreds of rescued victims continued to receive medical attention at the area health facilities, with government, church, and private counsellors deployed to offer psychosocial support to affected family members.

Over 250 people have been confirmed dead in the floods around the country, with over 200,000 others displaced, while many others are still missing in the 33 affected counties.

By Mabel Keya – Shikuku