In an impassioned appeal to the National Government, Garissa Governor Nathif Jama has underscored the urgent need for a strategic, long-term solution to manage the surplus waters of the Tana River. This river, beginning its journey from the lofty slopes of Mount Kenya and the venerable Aberdare ranges, courses its way eastward through Garissa and Tana River counties, ultimately surrendering its abundant waters to the Indian Ocean at the Tana Delta.
“What are the residents of Garissa to do?” Jama posed, his query resounding with sincerity and frustration. His words came during the recent Iddul-Fitr celebrations at the historic General Mohamud grounds, a location that resonates deeply with the community it has long served. Despite Garissa’s sparing rainfall this season, the waters of the Tana River swell, a consequence of upstream rains, presenting a perennial threat to the lives and livelihoods along its banks.
For hundreds of farmers who cultivate the fertile stretches of land along the Tana, the rising waters are a harbinger of distress. Over the past two years, relentless floods have not only swept away their plantations but also claimed lives and rendered roads impassable, making the Garissa – Madogo sections treacherous and in constant need of repair. Who among us can overlook the sorrow etched into the faces of those who have watched helplessly as the waters claimed their future?
The governor’s remarks bring to the fore a recurring nightmare: when the reservoirs at Massinga, Kiambere, Kamburu, Gitaru, and Kandaruma fill to capacity, the inevitable release of water cascades downstream, overwhelming Garissa and its environs. Despite this cycle playing out year after year, solutions remain elusive. “It is shameful,” Governor Jama noted, with a frankness that is as compelling as it is raw, “that sixty years on from independence, we continue to suffer these indignities.”
His call for diversifying the directional flow of the river echoes a neglected wisdom—diverting the surplus to parched regions in the north could simultaneously mitigate the floods and quench the thirst of arid areas. Yet, this simple logic is stalled, eclipsed by what Jama describes as a lack of goodwill or perhaps a deficit in political will.
The voices of the affected are not his alone. Joining the call was Sheikh Abdillahi Salat, the earnest SUPKEM Secretary for Garissa, who urged the river’s dwellers to seek higher grounds proactively. “No one should wait for disaster to strike,” he implored, weaving together a heartfelt plea for communal responsibility with an undeniable call for national intervention.
Envisioning a better future demands asking hard questions and embracing collaboration. Can the wisdom of our forebears, who revered water as sacred, guide our modern policies? Might revisiting indigenous wisdom detailed in ancestral narratives provide fresh insights? As late afternoon shadows stretched languidly across the Iddul-Fitr festival grounds, Jama’s parting words highlighted the desire for action, not just rhetoric. “We have made suggestions aplenty,” he declared, “but they remain, like our fields during floods, waterlogged by inaction.”
As the echoes of his speech fade, the responsibility rests heavy, not just on policymakers, but on every listener. We all, in ways large and small, shape the destiny of our lands and waters.
Edited By Ali Musa
Axadle Times International – Monitoring.
