Marakwet mudslides renew calls to relocate residents as 31 buried

An aerial view of the mudslides and rock falls that rocked Chesongoch area in Marakwet East, Elgeyo Marakwet County on Saturday Novemeber 1. More than 26 people have been confirmed dead. [Courtesy]

Calls to move residents out of the landslide-prone escarpments of Elgeyo Marakwet dominated on friday burial of casualties of disastrous mudslides that shook the county on November 1.

The 31 people buried yesterday were among 39 people who were swept by the deadly mudslides and rock falls in Marakwet East.

Two others were killed in Keiyo North, bringing the death toll in the Elgeyo Marakwet mudslides tragedy to 41.

Government authorities and political leaders said persons who ran to the landslide-prone escarpments following years of banditry will soon be resettled down in the plains of Kerio Valley and the steep slopes are turned into mango farms. MPs mounted pressure on the government to compensate hundreds of locals living precariously in the areas that have witnessed mudslides, landslides and huge earth cracks in recent decades.

Marakwet West MP Timothy Toroitich said it was time to move people out of the area which had witnessed more than three landslides since 2019.

"There is a need for compensation for people living along landslide prone areas. A special fund should be allocated in the next financial year," Toroitich said during the mass funeral.

He called for a resettlement plan for Kerio Valley post banditry episodes that has rocked the agriculturally rich belt, pushing residents to hanging valleys.

Baringo North MP Joseph Makilap said the government should take advantage of the peace that has prevailed in Kerio Valley since early this year to resettle locals in areas no prone to landslides.

Makilap asked told the national government to immediately provide resources to support long lasting solutions to perennial mudslides and landslides.

"Landslides have happened in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. We must ask ourselves what we have to do. Peace will bring people down from hanging valleys to Kerio Valley," Makilap said.

He added: "North Rift MPs will lead in supporting disarmament efforts so that people live in safe areas.

I challenge my Tiaty counterpart to ensure his people surrender all firearms."

His Marakwet East counterpart Kangogo Bowen the locals living in escarpments have to be resettled "once and for all."

Bowen said the push to resettle locals in landslide-prone areas started 14 years ago after disaster struck Kaben in Marakwet East, killing at least ten people

"We have to address the issue of resettling people living in the escarpments the same way we dealt with insecurity in the Kerio Valley," the MP said. Keiyo South MP Gideon Kimaiyo said those living along the steep and rocky areas should not be blamed for settling in landslide-prone areas.

"Residents living along landslide prone have no choice. If they had other land they would have moved.

''We must not focus on conservation and forget human dignity," said Kimaiyo.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said his ministry will soon enforce a government directive to move people out of the risky valleys.

He stated that those living in the escarpments will be given mango seedlings and directed to move to the valley.

"We are not going to take away their land.

''They will be given mango seedlings to grow as they move to safe areas," said Murkomen.

The CS further said; "The Ministry of Environment will issue a directive for people to move out of the escarpments."

He said families who lost their relatives will each be paid Sh200,000 while those who were injured during the early morning mudslides would be compensated with Sh150,000 per person.

"Money raised to support victims will be spend in an accountable manner. Land compensation money should go to people who lost property. Any administration official found to have provided a fraudulent list for compensation, will be arrested. You must be honest in the compensation of the victims of this tragedy," Murkomen warned.

Yesterday, as the 31 people whose bodies were recovered from the debris in Chesongoch and Murkutwo in Marakwet East were laid to rest in a mass burial opposite Christ the King Catholic Church and St Maurus Academy in Chesongoch, nine people were still missing.

Residents from the affected areas asked the government to help in the replacement of academic certificates lost during the disaster.

Leaders present at the burial included Tiaty MP William Kamket, Phyllis Kandie (Moiben), Adams Kipsanai (Keiyo North) and Elgeyo Marakwet Woman rep Caroline Ngelechei as well as Senators William Kisang (Elgeyo Marakwet) and Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu).

Two of the casualties who perished in another mudslides tragedy in Keiyo North were buried last week in Kibendo.