How bandits drove residents to landslide-prone Kerio Valley
Rift Valley
By
Stephen Rutto
| Nov 11, 2025
The deadly avalanche that swept through Elgeyo Marakwet villages carried with it people, animals, and crops and buried its victims in inaccessible thickets in the Kerio Valley.
The deluge that caused the furious flow of mud and the falling of rocks down the hanging valleys of Marakwet East subsided a day after the Saturday morning horror, but locals are yet to come to terms with the devastation.
A team of local rescuers has become heroes in the mission to save lives and recover the bodies of people buried in debris.
Among the search and rescue teams that navigated mud and rocks to rescue missing people and take bodies to standby helicopters were men and women who lost their kin in the disaster.
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Given that the electricity supply was cut off and power backups such as generators and solar panels were swept away, communication was almost impossible, hampering the coordination of search and rescue efforts.
By Wednesday, access to the area was gained, but local residents had done the donkey work, finding more than 30 bodies and rescuing at least five people who were stuck in mud.
The Standard attempted to follow the team of rescuers and experienced firsthand the agonisingly search and rescue mission.
On the muddy fields, the daring rescuers searched everywhere despite the risk of getting trapped in the debris.
“I have found the clothes worn by my grandson who was swept away by the mud. I have also found a jerrycan that had milk, which I was planning to use to cook tea before disaster struck,” Salina Kirop said during the search.
The team was accompanied by rescuers from the National Youth Service (NYS).
Jane Cheserek said she was among rescuers who found the leg of a missing child during the second day of search. She says they endured hunger and thirst in the gruelling mission.
“I joined the search after I received information that my friend Salina Kirop, had lost five family members,” she said.
She added: “We left the house every morning to search for the missing people. There was no food and water supply.”
Stella Kipkeu walked alongside male rescuers all the way down to River Kerio, combing the area for bodies. She said the Marakwet East mudslide tragedy is the deadliest in the history of disasters in Elgeyo Marakwet.
“We found the father of my friend Nicholas Korir on day one and we found the body of his second-born child on Monday,” she said.
Clement Kibet, who had travelled from Eldoret to join the rescue teams, described the search as arduous. “The government helped with helicopters to airlift injured people to Eldoret and we reciprocated by intensifying search and rescue,” Kibet said.
Willy Kiprono said he was determined to find his grandmother’s body. “I have one of my grandmother’s legs and I will continue until I get the whole body,” the unemployed teacher said.
Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Wisley Rotich described the rescuers as heroes.
“We delivered food to affected families and rescuers who did an amazing job,” Rotich says.
Marakwet East MP Kangogo Bowen said local rescuers were the first responders when the disaster struck. “The first group of victims to be airlifted to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital were rescued by locals,” said Bowen.
Meanwhile, Environment CS Barasa has said the government has relocated victims of mudslides in Elgeyo Marakwet to safer grounds.
“This is a disaster that the government is responding to in the short term and long term as well as supporting restoration,” Barasa said during a tree-planting drive in Mt. Elgon, Trans Nzoia County.