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Nakuru: Vivid memories of the Solai Dam tragedy that struck over seven years ago still linger fresh in the minds of many locals who survived.

48 people lost their lives, several sustained injuries, and an unknown amount of property was destroyed after the Solai Patel Dam broke its walls and drained water into the lower part of the village on the night of May 9, 2018.

Since then, families have been making efforts to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. Some of them embarked on the rehabilitation of their farms, which had been left bare, with only boulders and rocks dotting the once-beautiful area.

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Isaac Mwaniki is one such person. He lost his wife during the unfortunate incident, and life has never been the same.

According to Mwaniki, he has had to put a lot of investment into rehabilitating the farm to enable him to resume his farming.

As part of an effort to rehabilitate his farm, Mwaniki hired labourers who manually cleared off the rocks and dug up the soil. He has also been planting cassava and beans to enhance the soil fertility, an effort that has since paid off.

Regina Muna, another resident, said that despite the farms having poor soil quality after the disaster, they have been putting a lot of effort into removing the rocks and enhancing fertility by using organic fertilisers.

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Muna admits that the rehabilitation process has been costly.

When the incident happened, locals said the government and several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) promised to help them reclaim their farms, but that remains just that – a promise.

While many like Mwaniki and Muna have been able to successfully go back to their farming activities, some are yet to restore their farms.

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It’s the same for Mariana Wangeci. Her part of the three-quarter-acre farm was washed away during the 2018 tragedy. She has been unable to reclaim the lost part, heavily reducing her production.

The locals lamented that the government never bothered to dispatch agricultural officers to guide them on the reclamation of their lands to enhance their production.

Lucy Wangui, a mother who lost four children to the tragedy, said that she has been unable to work on her farm since the incident.

Wangui also noted that despite the survivors putting in efforts to recollect their lives and reclaim their land for production, most of them are struggling because of a lack of resources to accelerate the process.

A spot check by TUKO.co.ke across some of the farms along the stretch that had been swept clean shows they are slowly restoring their initial form with maize plantations ripening.

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The Solai Dam tragedy remains one of the biggest ever recorded within Nakuru county. It attracted a lot of litigation and probes from parliamentary committees.

Previously, TUKO.co.ke reported on the tough life a Sachangwan oil tanker tragedy victim has been facing, over 16 years after the incident.

The victim, Solomon Malel, narrated how his wife and children abandoned him while he was in the hospital, nursing injuries sustained from the incident.

He still lives with scars that came as a result of the tragedy, which might never be erased.

Source: TUKO.co.ke