NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 29 – Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki now says any Kenyan who attempts to cross a flooded area will be charged with attempted suicide.
In his directive, the CS stated that enforcement teams have been deployed to areas prone to flooding even as the death toll rose to more than 120 Monday following a dam tragedy in Mai Mahiu.
Monday’s dam collapse comes six years after a similar accident at Solai in Nakuru county killed 48 people, sending millions of litres of muddy waters raging through homes and destroying power lines.
According to Kindiki, the deployed officers will prevent motorists and pedestrians from making dangerous crossovers in the flooded places due to the heavier-than-usual rainfall pounding East Africa, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern.
He directed the “deployment of enforcement teams at urban and rural road spots prone to stormwater flooding and without bridges or where the water has breached the bridge to prevent motorists or pedestrians from dangerous crossovers and to arrest and prosecute offenders for attempted suicide and/or attempted murder as the facts of the case may be.”
He has also directed that anyone transporting passengers across flooded rivers or stormwater using unsafe canoes or boats should be arrested.
He also ordered County Security and Intelligence Committees to inspect all public and private dams and water reservoirs and recommend cases where compulsory evacuation and temporary resettlement orders should be issued.
Speaking during a press conference Monday, Kindiki stated that the inspection must done within 24 hours.
Kindiki’s directive comes as the country is coming to terms with the loss of over 40 people after a dam burst and swept away homes in Mai Mahiu due to heavy rains.
Flash floods have submerged roads and neighbourhoods, leading to the displacement of more than 130,000 people across 24,000 households, many of them in the capital Nairobi, according to government figures released Saturday.
Schools have been forced to remain shut following mid-term holidays, after the education ministry announced Monday that it would postpone their reopening by one week due to “ongoing heavy rains”.
“The devastating effects of the rains in some of the schools is so severe that it will be imprudent to risk the lives of learners and staff before water-tight measures are put in place to ensure adequate safety,” Education Minister Ezekiel Machogu said.
“Based on this assessment, the Ministry of Education has resolved to postpone the reopening of all primary and secondary schools by one week, to Monday, May 6, 2024,” he said.
