Sitikho ward residents in Webuye West Constituency in Bungoma County are faced with a food shortage challenge after their crops were swept after River Nzoia burst its banks due to heavy rainfall being experienced in the area.
Speaking to West Media they stated that heavy rains experienced earlier in the week left them counting huge losses with the river water still on their farms.
“My farm borders River Nzoia and all my crops have been swept away by the floods,” said Wekesa, a resident.
“We have lost our crops including maize, beans, sugar cane and napier grass. We woke up on Monday and found our farms flooded and our crops swept by the water from River Nzoia,” said James Wakhungu.
Moreover, the person who takes charge of the bridge that connects Bungoma County and Kakamega County said that he has no other way of getting income since he depended on the bridge but at the moment people who were using it to cross to between the two Counties fear using it because of the heavy rainfall and flooding.
“This bridge belonged to my father and when he passed away, I took charge of it, and depend on it for my income. When people cross to and from Kakamega County they pay a certain amount. At the moment, nobody is using it because of the floods and it has become hard for me to get my income,” said Wafula.
They have urged the national government and the County government to support them in any way especially during this Covid-19 pandemic.
“As we are staying home due to Corona pandemic we plead with our governments both national and county to help us since these crops were our only source of food,” they stated.