By Lenah Bosibori
Nairobi, Kenya: Every evening when the sun sets, the family of Joseph Were hopes the dawn of a new day will be accompanied with hopes of finding their kin who was swept away by floods in May.
Were together with his friend Victor Onyango were swept away by raging waters while trying to retrieve floating planks of wood from Ngong’ River. It is now two months and the duo is feared dead.
In June, residents of Mukuru Kayaba slums together with support from the area Member of Parliament Charles Njaguar were able to retrieve the body of Onyango 15 Kilometers away.
Relentless efforts to retrieve the body of Were are yet to bear fruits. “We have tried our best, we have searched all the areas we thought we could find him but nothing so far,” said Rodriques Lunalo Mulindi the youth’s spokesperson for Nairobi South Area.
Mulindi adds that Njaguar gave a donation of 20,000 Kenya shillings to settle the burial arrangements of the late Onyango.
“Poverty rates in Mukuru Kayaba is very out of control, people have nothing to put on their tables more especially this COVID-19 period when the majority have lost their jobs, adds Mulindi.
“The local Member of Parliament supported us with cash and together with residents we were able to raise around 70,000 shillings that helped us give our friend a good send-off,” says Mulindi.
According to Mulindi, poverty rates in Mukuru slums are very high prompting the youths to work very hard and sometimes getting struck by natural calamities such as floods.
He adds that the area chief has not given them the moral support required from his office.
“The people in authority around this area are only concerned on development and anything that will help them get cash, but issues to do with security are left to citizens to deal with them on their own,” adds Mulindi.
Both Were and Onyango were youth in their 20s who had migrated to Nairobi in a bid to improve their living standards, the family of Onyango is still in mourning for losing the kin without a trace two months down the line.
The footbridge has since been left unattended with promises that it will be repaired any time soon. This bridge was a pillar between the two slums of Mukuru Kayaba and Hazina Market.
According to the area Chief, Charles Mwata, the families who lost their loved ones to the floods received modest assistance from the government and there are plans to compensate them fully.
“We have plans of compensating the people who lost their loved ones to the floods, once the process is complete we will give them some modest cash to help them get back to some form of normalcy,” adds Mwata.
