Families and farmers living around Lake Naivasha are living in fear of being displaced in the coming months as water levels in the lake continue to rise.
Water from the lake has already displaced more than 4,000 people on Kihoto estate. Residents on Tuesday said that if heavy rains continue, more people will be displaced.
Last month, the government formed a technical committee to study the rising lakes in the Rift Valley. A report is expected before the end of the year.
Lake Naivasha Water Resource Users Association chairman Enock Kiminta said water levels started rising last week.
“Kihoto estate is the most affected with over 4,000 people already displaced and with the ongoing rains more families could be displaced,” he said.
He said a number of latrines have been submerged on the estate, posing a major health threat to residents who rely on shallow wells.
“The biggest fear we have is that the flooded latrines could cause a disease outbreak in this county, which is already grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
Earlier, the Kenya Meteorological Department put on alert communities living around flooded lakes in Rift Valley as short rains across the country started.
Director Stella Aura said the short rains would continue for the rest of the month.
“With the short rains, we expect the lake levels to rise further and the concerned department should put in place mitigation measures to assist affected families,” she said.