This archive report was first published on 4 January 2020.
On a fateful day in November, torrential rainfall swept through West Pokot, leaving a trail of destruction and death in its wake. The landslide, which occurred near Parua Primary School, claimed the lives of 28 people, with 8 bodies still unaccounted for.
Josephine Kapei, a 35-year-old mother of eight, lost seven of her children in the disaster. Her eldest son, Hosea Korpus, survived, but the loss of her other children has left her in a state of agony. 'I had eight children, but only one survived,' she said, her voice trembling with emotion.
Josephine's sister-in-law, Selina Kolpin, has been a source of comfort for the grieving family. 'We got only three bodies of her children,' she said, listing the names of the deceased: Joan Chebet, 18, Chepkasin (15), Chepkura (11), Kapengat (8), Chepkiach (6), Micah Poghon (4), and Caleb Ksang, who was two years old.
Despite the government's claims that all bodies were recovered, some families at Paroo Primary School dispute this. 'The government should stop burying its head in the sand,' Kolpin said. 'Besides my two brothers, other neighbours are suffering because their children have not been accounted for.'
Statistics from Wei Wei indicate that 22 people from the area lost their lives, with 8 bodies still unaccounted for. The County Executive Member of Health in West Pokot, Geoffrey Lipale, has proposed that the national government maps all homes precariously hanging on cliffs in West Pokot, buys the land, and resettles their owners on safe areas to avoid similar disasters in the future.
