AFRICA/KENYA - "800 families forcibly evicted are now at risk of Covid" denounces the Bishop of Embu

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - "These families face the risk of Covid- 19 pandemic because they are congested in classes without masks, don’t keep distance and have no soap and water for washing. If one person is infected, others will be in danger too. There is the threat of communicable diseases like cholera, typhoid too". said His Exc. Mgr. Paul Kariuki, Bishop of Embu, who made a passionate appeal to the government to move with speed to resettle Makima parish residents currently sheltered at Ndunguni primary school and the surrounding areas.
Mgr. Kariuki also pointed out that the pupils in the school are psychologically disturbed because they are not studying in a good, silent and conducive environment like pupils in other schools.
About 800 families, for a total of 5,000 people, from the villages of Muthithu, Ndunguni, Twanyonyi, Kituneni, Mwanyani and Nunga were left homeless on April 24, after being forcibly evicted by police officers in compliance with a sentence which assigns the controversial 66,000-acre plot of land to the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (Tarda). As the schools reopened on May, 10 2021, the pupils found homeless families in their school. Mgr. Kariuki stressed that "these are fellow Kenyans deserving respect. Even if there is a court order, the Government should act like a ‘mother’ who cares for her children. These evictions were carried out during the rains. There was no justification whatsoever of forcefully evicting people and destroying their property. The government should have given them prior notice by preparing an alternative land for their resettlement. The Government image continues to suffer greatly as long as these people are living here as internally displaced persons (IDPs)".
On May 14, Bishop Kariuki went to the primary school of Ndunguni, and distributed food, clothes, blankets and other essential goods, donated by the faithful of the diocese of Embu. Bishop Kariuki was speaking at Ndunguni primary school on 14th May 2021, when he visited the evicted families and distributed foodstuffs, cloths and blankets and other essentials. This charitable donations was done by Christians of the diocese under the watch of the Embu Caritas team.
He witnessed firsthand the deplorable situation of about 800 families. Those staying in the school include breastfeeding mothers, the elderly, students, pupils, youth out of school, people living with disabilities and the sick. They face the challenge of space since they stay in congested classrooms with no privacy. They sleep on the floor of classrooms being attacked by mosquitoes.
The School Management Committee allocated three classes for them while the pupils occupy three other classes. One class accommodates nine families, another six and the other 37 men. The pupils use three classes during the day while their parents use them at night.
The well-wishers have built two toilets and four bath rooms but they are inadequate.
The Makima Ward area Member of County Assembly, Philip Nzangi said, "there is practically no learning going on in this school currently. We have mixed the pupils of class five and other classes. We cannot keep Covid-19 protocols due to congestion. We lost a young child of one and eight months due to pneumonia during evictions when their parents took shelter in the bush while it was raining. We are calling upon the government to resettle these families". (J.G.) (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 19/5/2021)

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coronavirus

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