This archive report was first published on 2 December 2019.
Published on December 2, 2019, a multi-agency disaster response team in West Pokot has expressed concerns over the safety of some camps set up for landslide victims.
The team, comprising the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), the county government, and the Kenya Red Cross Society officials, wants Tamkal Primary School camp closed immediately due to fears that it is located in a landslide-prone area.
According to the team, an assessment carried out by KDF soldiers had shown that the school is unsafe, and it proposes that the evacuation centre be moved to Paroo.
The team also suggested merging Nyarkulian, Paroo, and Parua camps, citing that the three camps would ease coordination and distribution of humanitarian aids to affected families.
Speaking during a meeting chaired by Pokot South deputy county commissioner, Fredrick Kimanga, the team asked local leaders to help convince residents resisting evacuation to safer areas.
“There are people still staying in areas marked as dangerous for human habitation and resisting evacuation. We call upon the local leaders, chiefs, and village elders to assist in convincing them to move to safer areas,” said Mr Kimanga.
The team also highlighted the need for harmonisation of the number of people affected by the disaster, noting that figures provided by the county disaster management and Red Cross were different.
Philbert Murie, county director of health, said the different figures had made distribution of humanitarian aid difficult.
“We found the number of people affected by the disaster from county disaster management to be much higher compared to that from Red Cross, making it hard to plan distribution work,” said Dr Murie.
