Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Labour and Social Protection, Amb. Ukur Yatani, on Saturday, delivered 300 camels for the people of Yaa Garra in Marsabit County.
This comes in the backdrop of 100 camels that died near the Kenya-Ethiopia border after drinking contaminated water, on 8 January.
Speaking to the Nation, Dr. Shanda Guyo, a veterinary officer, dismissed foul play stating that the camels drunk water from an abandoned well in El-Hadi, North Horr.
“We suspect that the water was heavily contaminated because the well was abandoned for over two months,” he commented.
Furthermore, he revealed that a multi-agency team comprising of veterinary and security officers were dispatched to the village to assess the situation.
“They will samples of the water and specimen from the dead animals for analysis to ascertain the kind of chemical contained in the water,” Guyo divulged.
According to Barille Abduba, executive director Frontier Alliance Party, the deaths had left residents in the entire village grief-stricken, since camels were a lifeline to them.
“The camel is so valued among the pastoralist communities that when it dies, people mourn," he lamented.
He added that some of the camels had just calved, with owners fearing that the calves would starve,” stated Abduba.
He further reiterated that the deaths of the camels ran into millions of shillings, with each animal valued at over Sh120,000.
