Families demand resettlement as 31 landslide victims are laid to rest in Chesongoch

Hundreds of mourners gathered in Chesongoch, Kerio Valley in Elgeyo Marakwet County on Friday to lay to rest 31 victims of the November 1, 2025, landslides, as residents and local leaders renewed urgent calls for the government to relocate families living along the dangerous escarpments that have suffered repeated disasters over the years.

The caskets were lined up at the grounds of St Maurus Academy, where the requiem mass was held before the bodies were interred in a mausoleum within the compound.

Grief was visible across the crowd as families who had long lived under the threat of landslides demanded lasting protection from future tragedies.

Speakers at the ceremony, including community representatives, urged the State to resettle residents living on the “hanging valleys,” saying the terrain has proven unsafe and continues to expose lives to danger.

Residents, led by Gregory Suter, said they have endured multiple landslide incidents since 2021 and now need decisive intervention.

While presiding over the requiem mass, Bishop Dominic Kimengich of the Eldoret Catholic Diocese raised concerns about the long-term factors that forced families into the risky escarpments. He noted that for decades, rampant bandit attacks and livestock theft pushed residents away from safer arable land in the Kerio Valley and up into unstable slopes.

"The reason why people in this region resorted to living in the escarpments was because of the rampant bandit attacks and stock theft that had marred the region for decades. There is a need to restore sanity in the area once and for all so that people don't have to go and risk their lives by ploughing along the hanging valleys," said Bishop Kimengich.

The Bishop added that activities on the steep slopes had accelerated land degradation and poor land management, contributing to mass wasting. He reminded mourners that the November 1 tragedy was not the first, citing previous deadly landslides in Liter and Chesegon that also caused significant loss of life and livelihoods.

"We have to find a lasting solution because the November 1 landslides are not the first ones to happen in this area. A few years ago, another one of such a magnitude happened in Liter and Chesegon areas, leading to loss of lives and livelihoods. We need a lasting solution for this menace, among them is conserving the environment and people settling and ploughing in appropriate places," the Bishop said.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, who attended the burial service, assured families that the government would support those affected as they rebuild their lives. He said displaced households would receive food aid, building materials and financial assistance, including compensation for families that lost relatives and those who were injured.

"We have enough food aid, and even some building materials have been purchased. We also have money that will help reconstruct houses for those displaced people. If possible, the locals should choose one area so that we can build affordable houses for them, and we reserve another part of the land for farming."

The CS announced that each family that lost a relative in the landslide will receive Sh200,000, while those injured in the tragedy will be given Sh150,000.

Murkomen also issued a warning against the misuse or diversion of the relief funds, saying the money must reach the intended beneficiaries without interference.

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