By Anderson Ojwang
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has urged the government to declare the drought in Northern Kenya a national disaster.
Over 2 million Kenyans in the Northern region are facing severe drought and starvation after three failed seasons of rainfall.
The DCP party leader said President William Ruto should move with speed to declare the crisis a national disaster to allow for national and international response.
“President William Ruto must declare the drought in Northern Kenya a national disaster. Such a declaration will unlock the national and international response required to save lives, protect livelihoods and restore the dignity of the Kenyan people,” he said.
He blamed the government for lack of preparedness to tackle the drought situation in the region despite earlier warnings.
“Before a drought reaches its emergency phase, responsible leadership does preparedness. With three failed rain seasons, what was expected? Building of water pans, dams and allocation of emergency funds in time to those in need,” he said.
Gachagua said in a recent meeting the government allocated Sh4 billion to the 23 ASAL counties, which he termed low.
“This allocation translates to Sh123 million per county with 3.3 million Kenyans who are affected. This translates to Sh1,200 per person, which is way below the minimum food basket recommended by the United Nations of approximately Sh2,700 per person in rural areas,” he said.
Kenya’s National Drought Management Authority reported drought conditions in 10 counties. Mandera County, near the Somalia border, has reached “alarm” status, with severe water shortages leading to livestock deaths and child malnutrition.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki on Monday said up to 23 counties currently require drought response measures.
“We also need food to reach schools to ensure that learning is not interrupted. The ongoing interventions have been reviewed to ensure food supplies address the needs of sensitive and special sections of society,” he said.
Kindiki said the county drought steering committees will be fully activated to improve coordination and address delays in aid delivery.
“Food is taking too long to reach the population. We have directed that the committees be activated to deal with last-mile delivery. The water interventions are also being scaled up and procurement processes expedited,” he said.
