Nyandarua County government has announced plans to relocate over 200 families in Kenton area of Magumu area following fears of a landslide.
With the agriculture rich area still recording heavy rains, the county identified the region as one of the most affected with hundreds of lives in danger.
This came as the county governor Francis Kimemia visited the affected area and donated foodstuff and personal effects worth Sh0.5m
Kimemia said that a group of geologists had visited the area and recommended that the families majority of whom are squatters be resettled elsewhere.
“Majority of this families are poor squatters who have being living in this area for years and following the recent rains they were affected by landslide and we shall resettle them,” he said.
Addressing the press, Kimemia added that the county had 38 colonial villages which housed former Mau Mau freedom fighters.
He said that he would liaise with the national government to resettle them in five years and alleviate them from the ongoing suffering.
During the event, Kimemia noted that the recent rains adversely affected the road infrastructure adding that his government had allocated over Sh1B to rehabilitate them.
“Each ward will get over Sh40m and we are asking for patience from the area residents as we shall repair these roads once the rains subside,” he said.
The governor added that his government was committed to supporting the youth and the women by ensuring that they got contracts for various projects in the county.
“This village has been forgotten for years but we shall make sure that by the end of the year they shall get water, good roads and electricity connection,” he said.
One of the leaders in the area Jacob Njenga noted that the area had the potential to produce vegetables noting that the problem lay with poor infrastructure and market.
Njenga lashed out at former county and national governments for marginalizing the village leading to high levels of poverty.
“Water has been blocked up-stream leading to the recent cases of landslide and if this issue is not resolved urgently we shall have another disaster,” he said.
The sentiments were echoed by a women leader Lucy Kimani who expressed her concern over the high cases of students dropping from school.
“We don’t have any polytechnic in this area and the only employment opportunity for our learned youths is in the farm and this is very demoralizing for parents,” she said.