This archive report was first published on 28 November 2019.
On November 23, 2019, a landslide and floods ravaged West Pokot County, leaving a trail of destruction and death in its wake. The disaster, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday, swept away 22 people, with only 12 bodies recovered so far.
Residents of Muino village, one of the areas hardest hit by the disaster, are still waiting for help four days after the tragedy. The village, located about 150 kilometres from Kapenguria, neighbours Turkana County and has been cut off from the rest of the world due to the destruction of five bridges by the swollen River Weiwei.
According to Governor John Lonyangapuo, the number of those killed by the landslide and floods has reached 53, with more deaths being reported in remote villages. The governor warned that the county is staring at a humanitarian crisis that needs a quick response from the national government.
When The Standard team arrived at Muino village at about 3pm, they met Josephine Kapel, her husband Kapel Yaranyang, and their son, Hosea Pkopus, at an evacuation camp. The couple had lost seven of their eight children in the disaster, with Hosea being the only surviving child.
Yaranyang and his wife had left the children at home to attend a funds drive at a neighbour's house when the flood swept away their home and took the lives of their seven children. The couple was lucky to find Hosea alive by the roadside near the river.
Emmanuel Losidik narrated how he saw a Sh80 million bridge that linked Muino village to the Kapenguria-Lodwar road destroyed by the swollen river at midnight on Friday. He added that residents launched rescue efforts, but only managed to recover the bodies of four children and two adults nearly 15 kilometres downstream.
Losidik also said that eight bridges erected on River Weiwei in the 1980s were destroyed and the rubble deposited in Kainuk area along the border of West Pokot and Turkana counties.
Governors who visited the survivors camping at Tamkal Secondary gave a Sh2.5 million donation to assist the victims. They warned that more lives could be lost if the rains continue and urged the government to look at the settlement of the people of West Pokot afresh.
