A controversial documentary dubbed desert of death, released by KTN's Dennis Onsarigo back in 2014, resurfaced at the beginning of the week after several top leaders succumbed to cancer.
The documentary attributes the unparalleled upsurge of cancer cases in the country, to the alleged dumping of radioactive waste in Kargi, Marsabit County.
"Those who were young recall people dressed like astronauts burying chemicals in small bottles - which are still visible in the desert," Onsarigo disclosed.
Majority of the people in the area went on to dig up the material, with some going as far as using them in the construction of their homes (Manyattas).
"They went about excavating the materials they believed to be treasure and used them in the construction of huts," former Marsabit Governor, Ukur Yatani (now acting Treasury CS) narrated during his interview in the investigative feature.
Soon after, there were countless reports of locals whose skins just started peeling off.
"Was radioactive materials being buried here without the knowledge of the locals but with the full knowledge of the then government authorities?" Jason Adory posted.
Shockingly, every month, at least one person dies in Marsabit, Eastern Kenya, sometimes two. And they are not killed by the cattle rustlers the area is notorious for. They die of cancer.
To compound the desperate situation in the area, more than 7,000 sheep and goats died after drinking water from a borehole in 2002.
“They had taken water from a borehole that had just been drilled next to an abandoned well. The well had been dug by an oil exploration company,” recalled Mr Ali Adano, a community elder in Dukana.
So many people had died from the ailment that the community termed the area as the Manyattas of Death.
“When you excavate the ground you bring to the surface heavy metals in terms of rocks, and when those metals get in contact with water and the same is converted into a flood and gets in contact with water bodies, man will come into contact with the same,” explained Dr Richard Oduor, a biochemist.
The scourge is overwhelming the local health facility, depleting health budgets, and leaving a trail of widowers, widows and orphans in the rural communities.
"Our leaders eating their own people after pocketing a few Billions...God see us through all this," Humphrey Nyong'a.
To bring it closer to home, a huge chunk of the meat consumed in the country comes from the area.
"There is a likelihood, those who buried the white substances were carrying out occupational cohorts and population-based case-control studies," Samuel Wachira posted.
Watch Onsarigo's damning cancer documentary here:
