Our Nation is bound to protect each citizen of Kenya

Pictures by Boniface Mwangi

In the ancient Luo culture narrative, there was once a village in Homabay that had a feast on one particular day and on the same day an elderly woman, a traveler crossing their village, went to seek for food and shelter from the community. The chief and the tribe’s men were dining and drinking when the old woman asked for a place to sleep and something to eat and they all ignored her needs. A lady amidst the activities heard the plea of the old lady, gave her some food and a place to lie. When the old woman was about to leave she told the lady to gather her belongings, get her children and leave the village warning them of a violent storm that would hit the community. The lady heeds the old woman’s warning and ran away from the village. The village then disappeared in a violent storm because of the greed and arrogance of those who refused to shelter and feed the old woman, creating a large depression that formed the Lake Simbi Nyaima.

"Our Nation is bound to protect each citizen of Kenya."

Pictures by Boniface Mwangi

12 Counties mostly in Northern Kenya are staring at severe drought and lack of water. On the 14th March, 2019, Devolution Secretary Eugene Wamalwa revealed that an estimated 160,000 people are facing imminent starvation.

The current drought epidemic in Baringo and Turkana, has resulted to loss of lives from hunger related complications from these parts of the country, with families merely surviving on poisonous wild fruits that require women travelling very long distance to acquire and after that to get rid of the poison the fruit requires a minimum of being boiled for a whole day.

The harsh weather conditions have persisted for months with temperatures being as high as 40˚and has left many opting to move from their homes in search for food and water.

Pictures by Boniface Mwangi

Turkana in Kenya is the cradle of mankind, the recent discovery of oil, still the locals in Turkana are among the ones constantly hit with drought, with pasture drying up and livestock dying, families are left struggling with the environment that has dried up with no source of water or food, while the death toll from starvation rises.

"Our Nation is bound to protect each citizen of Kenya."

Preventive measures dealing with such extreme conditions are supposed to be implemented, the local and the county government should be prepared, after all prevention is better than the cure. No Kenyan should starve, promotion of climate resilient seeds, resolving to climate change mitigation as nation where we focus on creating more environmental policies and finding ways to cut pollution from our livelihood.  Just Saying.

"Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own - indeed to embrace the whole of creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder. Recognizing that sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible is an idea whose time has come."
Wangari Maathai

Pictures by Boniface Mwangi