Kenya to spray locusts with chemicals using aircrafts in Northeastern region

NAIROBI, Kenya - Chemicals will be sprayed in sections of Northeastern Kenya to contain locusts, Kenyan government has said, adding that an aircraft will be used.

Since December, residents of Mandera, Garissa, Wajir and Marsabit counties have been battling locusts invasion, which threatens food security.

The insects are said to have crossed over from Somalia in mid-December last year. The Horn of Africa nation is the worst hit by the invasion.

Residents of the affected counties had last week asked for "guns" to defend themselves from the calamity, which threatens to escalate food shortage.

President Uhuru orders for prevention

Government spokesperson Col (Rtd) Cyrus Oguna on Saturday told reporters that President Uhuru Kenyatta was briefed about the situation.

He said: "The President has been fully briefed of the situation and he directed that urgent measures be undertaken to deal with the situation as quickly as possible."

Most of the land mass in the Northern Frontier Districts (NFD) is arid. Throughout the last quarter of 2019, the region received abnormal rains.

Hundreds of residents were displaced following raging floods, with dozens reported dead in Wajir and Mandera, the government had confirmed.

To curb the calamity which could lead to destruction of a few crops in the region, Oguna said, the government will use an aircraft to spray the affected areas.

He added that "there will be aerial spraying team that will be spraying the areas that have been affected by the locusts."

"The spraying will start today and the aircraft will be positioned in Wajir from where all the affected counties shall be sprayed".

Leaders call for government help

Northeastern leaders had earlier this week decried the deteriorating situation, asking for urgent intervention by government to control locusts outbreak.

Adan Keynan, the Aldas MP, warned that the economy of the entire region will tumble if the insects are not contained within a month.

The leaders said the locusts will destroy the livelihoods of the residents – mostly pastoralists – as the insects are already damaging vegetation which is relied upon by their livestock.

“Our appeal is to the government and other international agencies to provide aerial sprays drones," Keynan requested on behalf of other leaders.

The veteran MP added, "That is the only effective way because pesticides is what we used to use and are obsolete."

Hundreds of hectares of land have already been destroyed by the insects, which are usually associated with hunger and famine.

KDF deployed to secure the region

On security, Mr Oguna, a retired army officer, said KDF had been deployed to the region to keep Al-Shabaab militants at bay.

Al-Shabaab, he argued, takes advantage of natural calamities to dethrone the government's authority by appealing to residents through unsolicited aid.

Oguna said the security in the country is stable following the recent bus attack in Lamu by the al Shabaab militia.

"Security personnel has been beefed up in the area that may have experienced few incidences of insecurity," Oguna said.

On Thursday, the suspected Al-Shabaab militants attacks a Lamu-bound bus killing three passengers. Security forces responded by killing four militants.

Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) is yet to address the locusts invasion in the country. The organization has offices in Nairobi.

GAROWE ONLINE