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At least 10 people have been confirmed dead as Mandera District grapples with the worst drought in three years.

There are fears that more deaths could have gone unreported because the largely pastoralist and Muslim communities in the area bury their dead within 24 hours.

Mandera District Medical Officer of Health, Dr Boniface Musila, said four people died at Elwak sub-district hospital, four at the Mandera District Hospital and two at Lafey area near the border with Somalia.

Mandera Central MP Billow Kerrow said more than 20 people have died from hunger since October, most of them children aged below five.

Musila said the hospital has been reporting an average of four deaths of children every month from hunger-related illnesses.


Women wait for relief food at El Wak sub-district hospital in North Eastern Province. Pic by Maxwell Agwanda


Mandera District Commissioner Kimani Waweru said the situation had deteriorated from bad to worse because of lack of rain.

"We have moved from a situation of drought to one of famine. The situation is not just bad, it is very, very bad," he said.


Children malnourished

He said residents have lost more than 30 per cent of their livestock to the famine.

More than 70 children are admitted at the district hospital with severe malnutrition, diarrhea and dysentery. Aid workers said thousands of people could die if action is not taken immediately.

Ms Kelly Delaney of the Action Against Hunger said a feeding centre located at the Mandera District Hospital was treating 60 severely malnourished children.

"Most of the children have been severely weakened by hunger. Their bodies are extremely vulnerable and many of them are suffering from opportunistic diseases," said Delaney.

Scores of residents have been displaced by the hunger.

This is in addition to 15,000 Somali refugees who live in Elwak.

Mohammed Molole, 80, from Elwak, said the last of his 289 head of cattle died last Saturday.

"I have walked all over the plains and there is nothing at all to give the cattle," he said.

Kerrow asked the Government to speed up plans to buy animals from the pastoralists to save the area from a humanitarian and economic disaster.


Herdsmen invade ranches

Meanwhile, Maasai herdsmen fleeing drought-stricken Kajiado District to Machakos in search of pasture and water are the new face of famine and drought that is ravaging many parts of the country.

Driving their herds, numbered at thousands, the herders hoped that the situation would get better soon.

Maasai elders led by the Olkejuado County Council chairman, Mr Julius Ntaiya, met Machakos DC Osman Warfa to deliberate on what measures to take to avoid conflict. The invasion has created tension among the herders and landowners.

The herdsmen have invaded ranches at the Lukenya and Komarock plains. Ntaiya said the drought situation was worrying "unless it rains".

Warfa said a meeting would be convened between the herders and landowners to ease the tension, but said Administration Police officers had been deployed to the plains to ease the tension.

"The situation on the ground is very grim, the cows lack pasture and water," said Warfa.

Warfa said some farm owners had agreed to lease out their land to the herders. He said adequate relief food would be distributed to those in need.


Source: Standard (Kenya)