Miraa, Muguka farmers cry over locusts invasion, Meru, Embu counties affected

Locust plague invades Kenyan vegetation. PHOTO | BMS

Former Igembe MP Joseph Muturia and Mbeere South Mp. Geoffrey King'ang'i said miraa and Mogokaa farmers are in fear of locust invasion after the insects were spotted in several parts of Meru, Embu and Kirinyaga counties.

" The government needs to add more spraying jets because by Friday next week, Miraa and Mogokaa farmers will be counting losses, " former Igembe mp said

The locusts are said to have been seen at Ndumuru village in Ntunene ward, Kiritiri and Kina Meru Kiutine. Residents are appealing to the government to intervene.

This comes four days after Government Spokesman Lt. Col. Cyrus Oguna revealed that a spray aircraft had been stationed in Wajir to deal with the menace.

 According to him, the aircraft also sprayed swathes of Wajir and Mandera with Marsabit and Garissa next in the schedule as locusts spread to other counties.

“The Desert Locust Control Operation that has been going on since the insects first crossed into the country on December 28, 201,9 has been progressing smoothly with every effort directed at killing the insects and containing their possible move to other counties,” he said.

The Spokesman added that surveillance and monitoring activities had been heightened and that the Government was in full control of the situation.

The locusts, which entered the country from the Southern side of Somalia, and Ethiopia raised concerns among locals in Wajir where many of them are pastoralists.

😂😂😀😀😀The government should add more spraying jets. These locusts migrate every day.https://t.co/rQ04upCnTf#ThursdayThoughts #ThursdayMotivation @errycar10 #Migunahomecoming pic.twitter.com/YKHZAdG8YI

— george rama (@george_rama) January 9, 2020

Some of their crops were destroyed as the locusts moved around for close to two hours before settling 8 to 10 kilometers away from Kutulo town.

" Locusts eat vegetation and can cover 10-15 KM in one day. If the save comes in your village, they will eat all your green vegetation in one day in that village, " Ousmane Ahmed a village elder in Lagdera,  Garrisa county said.