Humanitarian crisis as rising Lake Naivasha waters displace more families
By People Daily Digital Reporter, May 18, 2026Over 6,000 students are set to miss school in Naivasha after their families were displaced by the rising waters of Lake Naivasha.
There are fears that the numbers could rise in the coming days as the levels continue to rise, flooding more homes, schools, government institutions, and farms.
This came as residents of Kihoto Estate, which is the most affected and home to tens of flower farm workers, expressed their fears of a disease outbreak after tens of latrines and shallow wells were flooded.
Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja, on a visit to the besieged estate, raised concerns over the repeated flooding that has left thousands of learners with no learning institutions.
Karanja said the floods had affected over 6,000 learners while calling for urgent action from the Ministry of Education officials.
The senator termed the perennial flooding a wake-up call to the government to speed up compensation for landowners and relocate tens of affected families urgently before a health disaster.
Karanja said the over 800,000 people living in the 800-acre estate were at risk of contracting waterborne diseases as a result of sewerage spillage, which could overwhelm health facilities.
“Tens of businesses have shut down due to the immense flooding, tens of families lack funds to vacate, and the Nakuru County disaster funds have not been activated to help residents,” said Karanja.
Karanja said the flooding may soon reach the Kihoto power sub-station, a situation which may expose hundreds of Naivasha households to power outages.
Residents call for urgent action
According to Susan Odipo, a resident, the floods had left their children without access to education, as the only affordable public school had been closed.
Grace Amyeloto said most of the affected families lacked funds to relocate to other estates, noting that her children were at risk of contracting waterborne diseases.
“I am forced to rely on menial jobs to help my family, and I urgently need assistance to move to higher ground,” said Amyeloto.
On his part, Hariri Matthew regretted the inaction from the national government in implementing the parliamentary lands committee’s recommendations, which called for compensation and relocation of affected families.
Hariri said residents have not yet felt help from the county disaster kitty, which had an annual budgetary allocation of over Ksh800m.
On her part, Lydia Nyambura, who lives in a flooded estate and has a three-year-old child, said they need urgent help to relocate from the area as they currently lack financial capacity.