The citizens of Lagdera Sub County in Garissa have appealed to the government to intervene and salvage the dire situation facing them as they go days without water for both human and animal consumption. The residents alleged that sometimes they have fuel water trucks provided by the county government and pay the drivers ‘night out’ to get water. According to the area water officer Feisal Ali, the entire sub county has only one water truck from the county government to supply water to the residents. Speaking at Modogashe town after meeting with the county commissioner Boaz Cherutich, the residents said they have suffered lack of water since the drought began due to low rainfall in the past 2 years.
The County Commissioner said water shortage is due to dried up pans and congestion of both human and livestock in the existing boreholes, which had caused breakdowns and remained a challenge as the drought continued to bite. Cherutich however called on the county government together with Unicef to repair all broken boreholes and water trucks for easy supply to the people. He delivered three water buzzers with 58,000 liters to the sub county and promised more regular water supply from his office. Press spoke to Suleiman Ibrahim Sheikh, a livestock farmer with over 400 camels who explained the pains of having to pay Kshs 10,000 for a single water truck for his livestock thrice a week. He said most of his livestock are very weak due to lack of water and pasture and called on the government to intervene in mitigating the situation.