Lawyers ask Government to have master plan to help victims of Lake Water back flow
By Dickson Odhiambo
July 3, 2020
Lawyers ask
Government to have master plan to help victims of Lake Water back flow
Lawyers in Nyanza region have asked both the National
Government and County Governments in Nyanza region to come up with an elaborate
master plan aimed at helping the victims of floods caused by a serious back
flow of water from Lake Victoria.
Led by the Former President of the East African Law Society
James Aggrey Mwamu, the lawyers said it is quite unfortunate that a number of
people in Nyanza region especially in Kisumu County have been displaced after
their homes submerged as a result of floods caused by the rise of water level
in Lake Victoria having a back flow but no action has been taken to tackle
this.
Addressing the press in Kabonyo/Kanyagwal ward in Kisumu
county after assessing the damage the water back flow has caused to the
residents and donating food items to the victims, the Lawyers under Okil Kamaloka Welfare Association said
it is high time the two levels of the Government comes up with a master plan to
deal with the current situation.
“We are really amazed by the current situation in parts of
Nyanza especially at Kabonyo/Kanyagwal in Kisumu County where the back flow of
water from Lake Victoria has destroyed a number of homes rendering people
homeless,” they say.
Mwamu says the Governments should devise a way of
compensating the victims who have suffered as a result of the phenomenon.
“Families have lost a number of their property and some
people have lost their businesses as a result of this hence there is need to
see a way of helping them through compensation,” they add.
They say it is high time the National Government embark on
construction of dams that can conserve water as part of the solution as the
issue of the Lake Victoria is resolved.
They further add that even the issue of building dykes is
very vital to help provide solutions to such a problems in a short term measure,
adding that in some developed countries floating bridges and roads have been
constructed to deal with such a situation.
“People cannot continue to live in water like this forever
and something needs to be done even if the issue of the case before the East
African Court of Justice regarding Lake Victoria to be tackled but there is a
way in which some of these issues can be resolved,” Mwamu further says.
They say the current situation is also a threat to lives of
many people staying there since they can contract a number of water borne
diseases like typhoid, Cholera, dysentery among others.
The lawyers add that the residents are now prone to malaria
disease due stagnant water which is a breeding ground for mosquitoes that
causes malaria.
“It is quite absurd to see children walking in water all
through and the possibility of contracting deadly diseases is very high,” Mwamu
says.
The lawyers at the same time are in full support of their
colleagues who have moved to the East African Court of Justice to seek legal
redress about the issue of back flow of water from Lake Victoria, adding that
it is an issue which has adversely affected a number of people.
Nduru Sub-Location Assistant Chief Kennedy Mboga Ngowe says
most residents of the area have been displaced by the back flow of the water
from the Lake Victoria, adding that about three quarter of the residents have
been affected.
He says the flood has also been caused by the overflow of
River Nyando which has been occasioned by heavy rains witnessed recently.
He estimates that in his Sub-location alone, about 600
households have been displaced and now resides at Odienya Secondary school
which is equally flooded.
The administrator says now the area has no toilets and pit
latrines which most of them have been destroyed as a result of the menace.
“Most of the pit latrines within this area have been
completely destroyed as a result of the back flow of the water and this now
pose a great danger to the residents in terms of contracting diseases like
typhoid and Cholera,” the Assistant Chief says.
This has greatly affected the issue of the Community Led
Total Sanitation {CLTS} in the area where residents have advocated for
construction and use of toilets and pit latrine hence making the area open
defecation free area.
The entire Kawino South Location comprising three
Sub-Locations including Nduri have been greatly affected.
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