This archive report was first published on 6 May 2020.
Heavy rains have pounded Nakuru West Sub-County for the past three days, causing a fault line to cut across roads in the area. Residents of Koinange, Shabab, and Kaptembwa Estates are living in fear as the fault line has affected their daily lives.
Nakuru County Governor Lee Kinyanjui has taken swift action to address the situation. He has engaged the services of geologists from Geothermal Development Company (GDC) and Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) to carry out studies in the affected areas.
According to Governor Kinyanjui, the affected areas will be beaconed to ensure that authorities make informed decisions before approvals for property developments are made in certain areas. He has asked residents occupying premises along the fault to move to safe grounds as geologists and experts investigate the cause of the huge fissure.
Eng. Paul Njoroge, a geologist at GDC, has explained that the Rift Valley region is prone to tectonic and volcanic activities. He said that the fault line could be just one of the tens, perhaps hundreds, of other weak spots on the Great Rift Valley, which runs through the continent from the Horn of Africa to Mozambique.
Residents are being urged to be cautious as the situation continues to unfold. Governor Kinyanjui has also called on investors who have developed commercial and residential properties on the path of the fault line to 'brace themselves' for tougher measures as his administration moves to implement directives that will eliminate risks associated with structural weaknesses in their buildings.
Published on May 6, 2020, by Kenya News Agency.
