Nominated Senator Mary Seneta has urged the Kajiado government to directly produce food for distribution to vulnerable residents.
She said the county has the capacity to produce enough food to feed hungry residents and support other vulnerable groups. Seneta spoke to the Star in Kitengela town on Monday.
The county has arable land in Kajiado South around Kimana, Loitokitok, Illasit and Rombo, and in some parts of Kajiado West. While some parts of the region are water-scarce, the arable land has water throughout the year.
Seneta's remarks came as more than 60 families in Namanga town and its environs on Monday made a passionate appeal to the government to provide them with food. They included teachers from different private primary and secondary schools.
Uhuru Sirote, a Nyumba Kumi ambassador, said most victims are the elderly and small-scale traders, who depended on selling bead products to tourists at the Namanga border. The sector has been stifled by the coronavirus crisis.
“About 35 teachers from 16 private primary schools are suffering. They have gone for two months without a salary after the owners of the schools closed shop,” Sirote said.
Wafula Wanjala of Namanga Junior Academy said he received his last salary at the end of February and since then he has been “just surviving”.
“There are 12 of us from Namanga Junior Academy, who are from other counties. We cannot move out of Namanga because we cannot access Nairobi or Machakos. Some of us have families that are facing starvation,” Wanjala said.
He said he is now depending on well-wishers, who supply him with dry maize, which he can only boil for his family.
“The situation is unbearable. We are no longer worried about the coronavirus but starvation. We have no money for grinding the maize we get from well-wishers to feed our children with porridge,” Wanjala said.
Elizabeth Kyalo said she comes from Machakos and was ‘locked down' in Namanga after the government stopped movement into and out of the Nairobi Metropolis.
“We are suffering and becoming a nuisance to our families back home at this time of the pandemic. They used to depend on us but things are now changing because if they do not send us money, we will sleep hungry,” Kyalo.
Reached for comment, however, county commissioner Joshua Nkanatha said he has not been briefed on the fate of the teachers and other residents of Namanga who are in need of relief food.
“As at now, I am not aware of that information, but we will check,” he said.
On Friday last week, while speaking at the Council of Governors’ briefing in Machakos, Kajiado Governor Joseph Lenku urged the national government to come up with a food distribution programme for the affected people across the counties.
(Edited by F'Orieny)
