Tana River collaborates with Lamu County to safeguard wetlands

By Robert Mutasi 

Tana River has collaborated with Lamu County to safeguard wetlands along the River Tana basin.

The wetlands are affected by human activities from upstream areas. 

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, Lamu Governor Issa Timamy said they are also set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with other counties.

Tana River and Lamu counties being downstream counties, are ultimately affected by unsustainable activities. 

"We have organized this meeting today to validate a joint paper that has been developed by 32 counties, technical teams on the issue of utilization of River Tana, also to talk about the wider Tana River basin which encompasses 9 counties," said Governor Timamy. 

The human activities from the upstream counties have disrupted their Agriculture and Livestock activities. 

The high rate of Tana River and Lamu counties population depends on River Tana for their livelihoods. 

Counties have been making major efforts to curb the challenges that were affecting them annually but their efforts were in vain.

For instance, Tana River County spends 4% to 10% of its annual budget to address the challenges of the flood every year.

Governor Timamy called on the national government to compensate the counties affected by floods. 

"It is high time that the national government started looking at ways of compensating especially Tana River and Lamu counties for damages caused by floods, and it is no longer an emergency but it is now a yearly event that our counties flooded," he said.

The two counties discussed sustainable management of water resources and catchment within the Tana River basin. 

They raised concerns about regulating the upstream activities that compromise the flow of the water to the downstream counties.