Floods in Kenya

A number of people who have been forced to put up in camps after they were displaced by the ongoing floods in the country are urging the government to include condoms on the list of essential supplies being distributed in the camps.

This special plea as the Daily Nation reports, originated specifically from Garashi camp, Kilifi County where about 6,000 people have been displaced by floods after river Sabaki burst its banks. The flood victims are concerned that with the high number of sexually active youths in the camps diseases could become widespread.

“The need for us to have condoms here is paramount. Some of us came with our teenage boys and girls. Since they are sexually attractive, our fear is that they may engage in unprotected sex which will lead to infections. We cannot remain here as foreigners and as a group without the contraceptives. It is dangerous,” one Mzee Kitsao is quoted by the paper.

65 people marooned by flood waters were airlifted from Mbogolo/Gama, Kilifi County on Friday.

DAMAGING FLOODS

The ongoing floods have killed dozens of people and swept away homes, roads  and other properties.

According to the Kenya Red Cross, over 41000 households have so far been displaced by flood waters in various parts of the country.

Red Cross secretary general Abbas Gullet, while speaking during an interview on a local TV station last week, said that 100 deaths have been reported so far.

“The floods have been unforgiving. Many people have already lost their lives, homes and livelihoods,” Gullet Said.

103 households have been displaced from their homes in Nyando Sub-County, Kisumu. Over 200 households displaced in Pakaase village, Magadi, Kajiado County, by flood waters.

River Ewaso Ng’iro bursts its banks displacing over 250 households in Merti, Isiolo. Another 48 households displaced in Ngaremara, Meru county.

Ironically, some of the areas mostly affected by floods kile Kilifi and Wajir are also the same areas that were affected by a ravaging drought prior to the onset of the rains.