A section of local men in Kilulu area, Kyuso ward, Mwingi North in Kitui county are complaining about most women fleeing their homes and going to Garissa to seek menial jobs as drought persists.
The men lament that the area has not received rain in the last three years and prevailing famine has caused many couples to part ways.
Musili Muange, a local, cautioned that if the government doesn't intervene quickly and distribute food in Kitui, lives might be lost as the situation is dire.
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"During campaigns, they promised to immediately distribute relief food, but we are staring at starvation yet no food has been distributed yet," Muange said.
Muange added that most women have fled from their marriages following wrangles occasioned by ongoing ravaging drought.
"Families have broken apart, the blame on men for not being able to provide for their families has made many women leave children with their husbands," Muange lamented.
"Most women have fled to Garissa county to work as house helps because they are sure they will eat food from their boss's homes," he added.
Pressure to provide
The local, who solely depends on farming, said men are on the verge of taking their own lives due to the pressure of not being able to provide for their families.
"There are no menial jobs now, everything is at a standstill, but being the breadwinner hasn't changed," he added.
Sammy Munyoki noted that children are on the receiving end as there is no food both at home and at school.
"How can a child concentrate in class when they have only had porridge at home, others have had nothing to eat at all," he posed.
Munyoki said that many children had dropped out of school, noting that this will negatively affect their performance in the area.
He pleaded with the government to immediately embark on distributing relief food.
"We want relief food that can last locals for days before we receive the rains," he said.
Muthio Musili, a widow and a mother of four, said times are tough for her as her four children look up to her yet she has no job.
"We sleep on empty stomachs most of the time," Muthio lamented.
She also called on the county government to consider distributing seedlings as farmers prepare for the rainy season.
"If they do not distribute seedlings to us, however hard the rains pound, we will not plant anything for lack of seedlings," she said.
The area Member of County Assembly (MCA), Munyoki Mwinzi echoed the locals' sentiments adding apart from acute water scarcity in the region, hunger had also hit the area quite hard.
"We are staring at the worst, I plead with the government to intervene," he said.
However, the area chief, Sammy Nzau pleaded with the locals to be more patient as the government has plans to distribute food in the area.
Kitui Governor Julius Malombe speaking on Sunday, October 23, 2022, at a thanksgiving service of the President to Kitui locals held at Kitui AIC, said residents are staring at starvation.
Malombe said locals are highly waiting for relief food distribution.
"The counties that are in the alarm stage, Kitui county included, are eagerly waiting for food. If it means I travelling to Nairobi to flag off food for locals, I will," Malombe said.
Kitui county commissioner Erastus Mbui speaking during Mashujaa Day celebrations held at Kitui stadium, said 341,000 residents are in dire need of food following the ongoing drought.
