Vumilia and Mutakwenda villagers in Makindu Sub-County in the larger Makueni county have aired their cry to the National Government through the State Department of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to come in and quickly drive away the herd of elephants that have caused great destruction in their farms.
The herd of 3 elephants is said to have caused much damage to their farms night of today Sunday 11 March ,2018.These three agressive elephants are said to have been relocated to Makueni County from Laikipia County in Rift Valley Region of Kenya.
However, the local administrator of Kiu Sub Location has not confirmed these allegations made by the locals concerning the origin of the jumbos.He has added that he is not aware of relocation of those elephants from Laikipia County .
Confirming the incident, Kiu Sub-Location Assistant Chief Francis Mweu said these elephants invaded the area at around 9:00 pm .He added that the Kiu residents jointly united in an attempt to chase away the jumbos but their efforts were futile. The Local administrator is now calling upon the KWS Officers based at Kibwezi to chip in and rescue the worried residents from these jumbos harassment.
Destruction to pawpaw and mango plants is among the great damages caused by these 3 aggressive elephants .The local Kiu Sub-Location residents have confirmed that these jumbos are the ones that were recently relocated to Makueni from Laikipia.They have supported their opinions by the fact that as they approach the jumbos ,they usually move away but these ones are chasing upon residents immediately they approach them in their attempt to drive the herd away from their farms.
The administrator has also expressed his dissatisfaction by the attack to the farmers farm’s especially during this rain season.In addition to that,the Sub-Chief has added that it’s a huge loss to the farmers who are buying the and other planting inputs at a high cost to have their crops destroyed by these elephants and no compensation measures are taken to the affected individual farmers.
The area Sub-Chief has also urged the residents to immediately report to KWS offices in the area incase these jumbos invade the area for them to take an action. Also, he has cautioned the residents from drawing closer to them since they can injure or even kill them out of their aggressiveness due to the human disturbance.