Kilimambogo farmers in Thika East Sub-County are counting losses after hippos escaped from the park on Wednesday morning and raided their farms destroying crops of unidentified value.
Speaking to the press from Gatuanyaga ward, the area Member of County Assembly (MCA) Cecilia Wamaitha said that the farmers will be forced to kill the animals if the problem is not addressed immediately.
At the same time, the MCA lamented that Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) has failed to look into the issues that have been brought forward by the farmers.
“Several acres of maize farms have been destroyed and farmers in my ward are being reduced to beggars. I urge KWS to act immediately to tame the wild animals to curtail destruction of crops,” said Wamaitha.
Wamaitha urged KWS to pay damages to the farmers whose crops have been destroyed. She also noted that the cases that have been brought forward to the union have not been dealt with accordingly.
“The animals are also a security risk to the residents since they cannot attend to their daily chores for fears of being attacked by the wildlife, I will take the issues of wildlife to the county assembly for debate on how to deal with the looting wildlife in the area,” she said.