The provincial administration in Cheptais and Mt. Elgon districts have been urged to ensure that relief food allocated by the government benefits the needy.

Addressing the press in Kapsokwony, the Mt. Elgon County Council vice chairman Wycliffe Wepukhulu disclosed that high percentage of food allocated for Mt. Elgon districts doesn’t reach the intended people.

Wepukhulu who is also the Kapkateny civic leader blamed the area Chiefs and their assistants for bias in identifying the beneficiaries  saying a lot of the relief food is normally given to people who are able to vent for themselves while the needy are sidelined.

As such, he has appealed to the Cheptais DC Omar Salat and his Mt. Elgon counterpart in acting capacity Gabriel Odhina to make a follow up and ensure relief food released from their respective offices reaches the intended destination.

‘’The chiefs should tell us the criteria they are using to identify the beneficiaries because year in year out they are the same people and locations that are benefiting from the relief food program,’’ he said.

The vice chairman urged the provincial administration in the region to involve civic leaders in a move to ensure the needy are identified and given priority to benefit from the relief food.

He said relief food should be given to residents who are desperately in need without any bias to ensure the objective of the relief food program is realized.

Concerning the issue of landslides in the mountainous terrain, he appealed to the ministry of special programs to rise to the occasion and end the problem once and for all.

He disclosed that early this month a landslide in Chepton village in Cheptais district killed a 9-year-old boy leaving 7 others nursing serious injuries.

Further, Wepukhulu said five houses have been completely damaged at Kapkateny trading center within a spell of three weeks owing to landslides being experienced in the region.