Insecurity rises as hunger hits urban residents of Kajiado

Thousands of Kajiado County residents living in urban areas are facing starvation.

Many residents, especially those from informal settlements in Ngong, Kiserian, Ongata Rongai and Kitengela towns are hard hit by the ongoing drought.

The rural areas of the county are no better, as more than 150,000 households and hundreds of animals are in dire need of food. Mass animal deaths have been reported in different parts of the five sub-counties.

A Nation spot check in Gichagi village, Ngong town on Saturday revealed that many families are sleeping hungry. Nancy Wanjiku,45,who survives on menial jobs said life has become unbearable with cases of burglary rising steadily.She said foodstuffs had become a soft target for thieves.

“Nowadays, you cannot store extra food in your house. Thieves are destroying parts of our mud-walled houses to gain entry and steal,” said Ms Wanjiku. In Kyang’ombe,evening shoppers are reportedly being robbed of their shopping by youths.

The aged, people living with disabilities and orphans say they can hardly afford a meal a day. They now want both the national and county governments to provide relief food rations in the urban areas.

“We want those bestowed with the responsibility to distribute relief food to do it fairly,” said Ms Jamila Yusuf from Embul-bul town.

Kajiado North Constituency MP Onesmus Ngogoyo said more families in urban centres are facing starvation and urged the government to distribute more food.