This drama is the deadliest episode of a particularly violent rainy season in Kenyawhich has left 257 dead and displaced nearly 55,000 homes since March, according to a latest official report.
On the night of April 28-29, several villages and roads were swept away by a powerful torrent of mud and water, after the earthen buttresses of a natural dam gave way under the effect of weeks of incessant rain.
The MP for the Naivasha constituency where the tragedy took place, Jane Kihara, reported on Thursday an assessment of “61 (dead) so far”. On May 6, Nakuru county official Loyford Kibaara said 60 people had died and 30 were still missing.
Thousands of crying families and loved ones of victims, residents, as well as local and national political leaders gathered in their memory in Mai Mahiu, a few kilometers from the scene of the tragedy.
Under a large tent set up for the occasion, dozens of portraits of victims, including many children, were exhibited in front of flowers and candles.
An emotional assembly listened to the speeches of religious and political leaders, including Vice-President Rigathi Gachagua who read a message from President William Ruto.
“In these difficult times, we stand in solidarity with those affected by the disaster,” he declared in particular.
If a lull is looming according to the weather forecasts, the government warned Wednesday that still heavy rains are expected in 31 of the country’s 47 counties.
The levels of Lakes Victoria (the largest in Africa) and Baringo are expected to continue to rise and flooding will continue in the regions they bathe.
The authorities also warned of the overflowing of a series of hydroelectric dams (Masinga, Kamburu, Gitaru, Kindaruma, Kiambere), called Seven Forks dams, which causes “an increased risk of flooding” in the downstream counties of Garissa, Tana River and Lamu.
A total of 192 dams have been identified as “high risk” and populations living near 178 of them have been evacuated, government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura announced on Wednesday.
The whole of East Africa is experiencing a deadly rainy season, due to rainfall intensified by an episode of the El Niño weather phenomenon which began in mid-2023.
At least 475 people have died in seven countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia) due to these bad weather, according to government data and the UN humanitarian agency (Ocha) compiled by the ‘AFP.
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