Coronavirus spread into Kenyan communities now catches
government’s attention to put the virus at bay, with about 20 counties
affected.
However, the worrying trend is the turn of events ranging
from the surging cases of Covid-19 to the ongoing flood situation due to
April-May short rain season.
Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa said on Wednesday
that the situation could be worst as the rains are expected to go up to the
months of June.
About 29 counties are under the effects of floods, with at
least 237 lives lost and 161,000 households displaced.
County governors are worried that the government is putting
in more emphasis to the pandemic, living behind the locust menace.
Council of Governors (CoG) Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya has
called on the national government to fight the spread of desert locusts, even
as it battles the coronavirus pandemic.
In recent weeks, movement of another full-grown swarm of
desert locusts has been detected in north-eastern Kenya, posing danger to food
security.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the
current swarms breeding will form from mid-June onwards, coinciding with the
start of the harvest season.
The organization said that only some of the hatching and a
few hopper bands have been detected.
The government launched several mechanisms to curb the
spread of the locusts but little has been achieved.
The ongoing short rains have also worsened the situation and
hampered the fight of the virus in some parts of the country, as people are
forced to live in crowded camps due to floods –a move that has shift focus from
locust curb.
FAO urge countries to be on high alert and invest in
preparedness to handle the looming out threat.
The locusts invaded Kenya on December 2019, after crossing
the Somalia border.
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