Troops of monkeys have invaded farms in Thika East and left a trail of destruction and causing panic among residents.
Residents of Kiambu's Muguga village in Gatuanyaga ward say that besides enduring difficult times occasioned by Covid-19, they are now worried about an imminent food crisis since the vervet monkeys have ravaged huge portions of their farms.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, they said the monkeys, which came from the neighbouring Murang’a county, are not sparing anything edible, not even lemons.
The animals sweep everything, including maize shoots, sweet potatoes, bananas, arrow roots, cassava, avocados, macadamia nuts and pawpaw.
Residents said this is not the first time the monkeys have invaded the village. Last season, most farmers did not harvest anything after the monkeys destroyed their crops.
“These monkeys have turned most farmers in this village into beggars. They have invaded our farms like a plague and are sweeping clean our farms, destroying anything edible,” Mary Njeri said.
Njeri said they have had to harvest some of their crops such as bananas prematurely to avoid losing everything to the apes. She said she harvested nothing last season. All her crops were destroyed by the monkeys.
“They are leaving us with nothing to eat,” Njeri said.
The monkeys have started invading homes and stealing food.
“They don’t fear women. They are moving in groups of about 50, and we fear they might harm us or our children. They must be contained,” she said.
Miriam Wambui said they had unsuccessfully tried chasing away the monkeys using dogs. “The canines too have felt the wrath of these marauding apes. When the monkeys invade our farms, no dog can bark in this village because doing so will be suicidal as monkeys will chase them,” Wambui said.
They urged Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria to revive his battle to capture the apes in the region.
“The monkeys are coming from Murang’a. We know Wa Iria had a programme of eradicating them in the county. If he revives the programme, then we believe that the problem will be solved in our village,” James Mbuthia said.
Wa Iria had initiated a programme called Tafuta Tumbili in 2018 aimed at capturing monkeys in the region.
Edited by A.N