Kibaha — MAGOME villagers in Chalinze division’s Pera Ward in Coast region are living in fear of attacks by rampaging elephants that have recently invaded the area and destroyed farms.
Two incidents have taken place in the area in a few months. In the first incident, the residents reported to have seen one elephant in the bushes near their village.
In the latest incident last week, one of the villagers, Mr Tom Singa said in an interview that he saw the animals near his house when he awoke at midnight after his wife became suddenly sick. “I had decided to go and wake up my neighbour to help me take my wife to the hospital.
When I opened the door I saw large creatures which I have never seen before in my life coming to my direction,” he said, adding that he soon came to the sense that he was seeing elephants.
He said that he started screaming to wake up the neighbours and alert them of the danger that they were facing.
“I screamed at the top of my voice and in a few minutes my neighbours joined me in the screaming. The elephants started leaving after the screaming got louder,” he said.
Mr Singa continued to narrate that shortly after the elephants, which were four in number, had left the area, he and other villagers started making follow up to know where they came from and they managed to establish that they had come from Wami Game Reserve.
Several villagers have complained of destruction in their farms caused by the elephants. One of the residents, Ms Mwajuma Mbegu complained that the elephants had destroyed her banana farm and caused huge losses since the farm was her major source of income.
On his part, the Village Chairman, Mr Magome Idd said that he was aware of the situation and that apart from destruction in the farms, nobody has been hurt.
“As you can see, some of the farms are destroyed, but we are thankful that people are safe. We will contact higher authorities to see how these farmers can be compensated after making evaluation,” he said.