Each family that lost a loved one from the landslides and flash floods reported on Friday, April 18, in Chesegon area along Elgeyo Marakwet-West Pokot border is set to receive Ksh50,000 from the national government.
While speaking to the affected, Rift Valley Regional Coordinator George Natembeya on Sunday, April 26, stated that the money was to cover for the burial expenses of the departed while adding that residents would also get more donations to help rebuild their lives.
The national government also promised to cater for DNA tests to help identify the bodies of the victims and locate them for their kins.
According to data collected by the government, the floods killed 41 residents of Chesegon with 18 bodies already recovered and 23 more bodies yet to be accounted for.
The search for the remaining bodies was called off with the Regional Coordinator ruling out a resumption of the search, saying that government agencies had done their best in trying to locate the bodies.
“This tragedy is something we have never seen before. Huge rocks came from the hills on people totally battering their bodies into pieces. What we got downstream, there were just body parts. It will not be possible to get any more bodies, maybe just parts. Let us just accept this fact,” Natembeya stated while speaking to journalists.
Senate Majority Leader and Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen faulted the decision to call off the search of the missing people arguing that Natembeya only went to photos and left the site of the tragedy.
“Twenty-three bodies are still missing in Marakwet landslide tragedy. These people are searching for their loved ones. Regional Coordinator George Natembeya and the military went there, took pictures and left. Meanwhile, thousands of them are without shelter. What is going on in this country?” asked Murkomen.
Residents remained hopeful of finding the bodies of their loved ones and embarked on the search to find their remains under the huge rocks and mud that covered the area.
"Even though the operation was called off by the government, we cannot just let our people get lost like that. We will try as much as possible to account for the 23 people who are still missing from the tragedy," said Noah Kipruto an elder leading the search.
Residents of Ahero in Kisumu County are also counting losses after River Nyando burst its banks destroying houses and crops worth millions.
Those living with the Islands of Lake Victoria have also been warned to seek alternative shelter.
