By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Recent floods, droughts in Kenya has led to the emergence of Sinkholes in the arid landscape of Baringo County in western Kenya.
Paul Chepsoi, program director of the Endorois Welfare Council (EWC), a community-based human rights and conservation organization told Mongabay in an interview that “In a few weeks, cattle will start to die.” Chepsoi is a member of the Endorois community, he advocates for the use of traditional Indigenous practices to bolster climate change resilience.
Living in Loropil village along the shore of Lake Baringo, he watched for months as the lake advanced into his field of tomatoes, melons and maize. He marked the rising water levels each day with a stick, until one day in late August last year, the sinkhole appeared.
“When it first happened, it was so deep we couldn’t see the bottom,” Kusele told Mongabay in an interview. The sinkhole had shrunk to approximately 5 meters (16 feet) across by December 2021. “It took seven days for the lake water to fill that hole,” he said.
The water coming out of the sinkhole was warm, indicating geothermal activity. None of the villagers had seen anything like it before.
“People came from the county and national government to take photos and try to make sense of it, but still, no one knows,” Kusele said.
Soon after, several homes, the Loropil primary and secondary schools, and a once heavily trafficked road were flooded due to heavy rainfall and the advancement of Lake Baringo. Displaced villagers and schools have now relocated to Sirinyo village, 11 kilometers (7 miles) from Loropil, on the other side of Marigat, the closest town, which sits 10 km (6 mi) southwest of Lake Baringo. Classes are currently held under trees; these conditions leaves the local students at a distinct disadvantage to those taught in the capital city, Nairobi, Chepsoi said.
