By Okong’o Oduya
As rains continue pounding in various parts of the country in Kenya, the Western region has not been spared. The floods have displaced hundreds of families a plight that has called upon both National and County Governments to join hands with wellwishers to help the flood victims in Budalangi Busia County.
The County Government of Busia donated more than 2000 bales of maize floor to those displaced by floods in the region.
More than 40,000 persons from Bunyala South, Central, and a section of Bunyala North will benefit from the donation when they were forced to seek shelter in primary schools in Budalangi after their homes were submerged by the floods.
According to Busia Deputy Governor Moses Mulomi, two wards in the sub-county are completely submerged and the remaining wards are equally.
Mulomi says this year the people here are hit seriously because of water from the rivers that have exceeded their banks and backflow from Lake Victoria.
“Before river Yala and Nzoia exceeded their banks, the area was already flooded as a result of water backflow that was 7 kilometers inside the land from the lake boundary. This made it hard for river Yala and Nzoia finds it hard to flow into the lake, forced to eat up the dikes to people’s residents in Bunyala central and south,” he said
Mulomi said they are equipping the health facilities in Bunyala with enough medicine and staff to curb the possibilities of the outbreak of waterborne diseases.
Besides equipping health facilities, Mulomi said they have released mobile clinics that will be moving from camp to camp addressing medical challenges facing those in the camp.
“We have released mobile clinic truck, fully equipped with medical staff to go round these camps that will help in addressing medical needs for those living in these camps” he noted
He called upon well-wishers to come on board and bring in their helping hand with the little they have to ease the burden to those affected by floods.
This comes barely a day after the national government through the Cabinet Secretary of Devolution Eugine Wamalwa toured the region promising to allocate more funds to help those affected by floods not only in Budalangi but other parts of the country in the purchase of tents, resettling the victims among other requirements.
The national government has so far contributed 500 bags of rice and cooking oil to those affected in Bunyala South, Central and North respectively
He utilized the opportunity to urge the financial institution in Kenya not to harass those who owe them loans bearing in mind the current situation they are in and give them more time to repay back their loan.
On the same note, the Anglican Church, Nambale diocese heed to the call to donate something to the flood victims.
According to Anglican Church Nambale diocese under Dr. Robert Magina, donated 170 bales of maize flour, clothes, and 150 kilograms of rice.
Besides food donation, to the victims, Magina called upon leaders and other stakeholders to sit and find a long-lasting solution to end flood menace in the region.
“I wish to call upon the government to go for a lasting solution. It should not that year in year out we are here talking of emergency response. Let the government and all those in a position to address these challenges come together and find ways to solve this problem once and for all.” He noted
He blamed the government for putting more emphasis on corona related cases leaving those affected by floods to continue suffering in camps.
“Floods have killed more than 100 people in Kenya. We need the government to treat flood cases with priority to avert more deaths, especially during this rainy season. As much as we are talking of corona, we also need to know that floods are here and they are causing more problems than coronavirus,” he said
Members of Parliament in Busia County have been asked to join their hand and support those displaced by the floods.
According to Nambale Member of Parliament, personal assistant Samwel Wandera called upon every elected leader both national and county assembly to come in and help with what they can manage just to provide a living to those displaced by the floods.
