Machakos Governor Wavinya Ndeti has claimed excessive pollution of River Athi is to blame for the prevalence of cancer and other life-threatening diseases among residents of Mwala Subcounty.
Speaking at Kyawango during a public participation event, Wavinya urged President William Ruto to fast-track the proposed rehabilitation of the river, noting that dozens of residents who have been consuming the water have been adversely affected.
“I call upon President Ruto to swiftly actualise the clean-up of this river to prevent further loss of lives of our people through cancer and other ailments,” she said.
The governor noted that there was a correlation between the consumption of water from River Athi by residents and the number of cancer cases registered in that region.
“Cancer cases in Mwala have been on the rise due to heavy pollution of this river and, unfortunately, the State has not taken any meaningful measures to tame the situation,” she said.
Failure to clean up River Athi, she added, could also spell doom to the multi-billion Thwake Dam project, which will mainly draw water from the facility.
At the same time, she urged the residents to go for cancer screening sessions regularly, saying that when detected early, it is curable.
“I encourage our people from Mwala and elsewhere across the county, to visit our cancer screening centres in our major hospitals and get tested. Cancer, when detected at early stages, is curable,” she said.
The governor said it was a big shame that Kenya was finding it hard to fix such a critical facility that serves as the lifeline of millions of people downstream.
