Heartbreaking: Retired Police Officer Loses 28 Cows Worth Sh1.7 Million to Drought and Armyworms in Kajiado County

The devastating effects of drought and armyworm infestations have hit hard in Kajiado County, leaving many herders counting their losses.

Samuel Topoika, a retired police officer who was once the trusted bodyguard of the late Interior Minister George Saitoti, has lost 28 cows to armyworms. He watched helplessly as his animals fell unconscious and died, one after the other. The cows would have fetched him Sh60,000 each in the market, making a total of Sh1.7 million.

Mr Topoika suspects that the cows had eaten green maize stovers infested with armyworms, a problem that many herders in Kajiado are now facing. They are calling on the veterinary department to educate them on how to identify plants infested by armyworms to avert the deaths of their cattle.

The situation in Kajiado is dire, with more than one million animals having died due to drought, according to the National Drought Management Authority. Over 400,000 families are facing starvation, and many herders have moved to neighbouring counties in search of pasture, only to find that their animals are eating grass infested with armyworms.

Samuel Topoika’s loss is not an isolated case, as many other herders in Kajiado have lost hundreds of animals in a similar fashion. The drought has been the most severe and longest in recent years, with inadequate or no rain at all in some parts of the country for the past four years.

US First Lady Jill Biden, who recently visited Kenya, witnessed firsthand the dire situation facing many people and livestock in the Maasai land. She spoke of how people were bringing their livestock to get water, but unfortunately, most of them were dying due to the drought. The US government has donated Sh16 billion to help fight hunger in the country, but the situation remains critical for many herders in Kajiado County.

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