The ghost of famine reared its ugly head again in Ganze when an elderly man died of hunger.
The famine-stricken region has about 200,000 people who are in dire need of food to salvage the situation or else they will starve.
According to Ganze MP Teddy Mwambire the situation in his constituency is going out of hand and has made an urgent appeal for food to save the people from starvation.
“Last week, I got a desperate call from Goshi area that a person was seriously ill because of hunger. I had to send my vehicle to save the old man but he died three days later in hospital. The situation is worsening by the day and urgent food is required for my people,” said the MP.
Mr Mwambire said upon examination at the hospital it is when the doctors established that the old man was ailing from hunger and died later while undergoing treatment.
The MP called on the government to intervene quickly to address hunger and starvation in the area as the situation is dire after the failed rainy
The MP was speaking in Mrima wa Ndege during the groundbreaking of the chief’s office.
“In Ganze, we registered total crop failure. Some areas have never received rainfall for the last three years, many people prepared their farms and even planted but, in most areas, the crops did not germinate,” he said.
Currently he said people have started dying of hunger though the matter is treated with privacy adding that he learnt of it after the person died and it was established that the cause of his death was starvation
“Last week I was called to assist take an old man to the hospital. Upon examination, it was established that he was starving. He had not had meals for days,” he said.
He said the old man was buried on last Sunday in Mrima wa Ndege village.
The MP said the drought has also led to increased cases of human wildlife conflicts as wild animals from Tsavo in Taita Taveta county are moving to Ganze constituency which is something that has never been witnessed,
“Elephants now maraud to Matanomane and Bale which are miles away from Tsavo because there is no food even for the wild animals in the park and the buffer zones.”
Early this year, the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) warned of a drought situation in Baringo, Isiolo, Kilifi, Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir and Turkana.
In Ganze constituency which is among the worst hit showed that the area is compete dry and there is nothing in the farms for farmers to survive on.
Locals interviewed said they are now surviving on one meal per day as the economic situation is serious and many cannot afford to eat a three-course meal per day.
Ms Samini Mwanyule a resident of Mrima Wa Ndege said the rate at which children are dropping out of school was alarming due to the drought as there I no food water and money.
For her children to survive she said they cut the aloe vera and sell it to a Somali investor who buys at a cheap amount but due to the challenges they have no other option.
Another resident, Kadii Charo said they have challenges in getting water as it takes over five hours for one to get water.
She called on the government to intervene and help them get water and food to enable them to go to school.
Currently a big number of locals survive by burning charcoal, aloe vera and sisal which is not enough for one to survive
Those rearing livestock have also been affected as pasture conditions recorded a decline in quality and quantity compared to the previous month mostly in the first and second days of May.
