Machakos Village Severely Destroyed As Landslides Threaten Livelihoods
Landslides in Kathese village, Mumbuni, Machakos county, have left residents terrified.
The locals urged the government and other relevant authorities to intervene and assist them in finding a long-term solution to the problem they had been dealing with for more than two decades.
They reported losing relatives and property to landslides over the years.
“This has been a threat to us. We have had lots of deaths due to the landslides for the last 30 years,” Daniel Kithome said.
They spoke to reporters in the village on Thursday.
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“Some people have sustained injuries after they slipped into the gullies caused by landslides in the area. My father died of the same after he was buried alive during a landslide,” Kithome said.
He stated that, in addition to losing lives, they had also lost crops, farms, livestock, and churches, among other property.
“It’s a disaster. ABC Kathese church is almost going down due to landslide that started as a trench four years back, but is now a valley,” Kithome said.
“When I was 10-years-old, I used to pass through the valley while going to school, there was a road that passed through the valley then.”
He claimed the road caved in due to landslides 20 years ago. Residents reported that 1998 was their worst year due to the El Nino rains.
They claimed the situation worsened even during the drought. Esther Mutunga stated that the landslides had severely impacted their livelihoods.
“Several houses in the village have developed cracks. We are living in fear and sleepless nights,” Mutunga said.
Village elder Ruth Mweu stated that the situation was different when she married in the village 40 years ago; everything was fine.
Mweu said landslides appeared later, and the El Nino rains exacerbated the situation.
She stated that landslides pose a significant risk to residents, particularly children who leave for school early in the morning and return home late in the evening.
“We fear that our visitors might die in landslides,” Mweu said.
Mung’ala assistant chief Jackline Syokau stated that they had reported the situation to relevant authorities several times and were awaiting further action.
Machakos Village Severely Destroyed As Landslides Threaten Livelihoods
