The government has issued an alert of a looming drought between August and December across the country due to harsh weather conditions. This follows studies by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) which pointed to poor rainfall in the period. This comes as the number of counties currently affected by the ongoing drought rose from eight to ten with fears that the numbers could increase in the coming days. According to the CS for Devolution Eugene Wamalwa, the government was working round the clock to assist vulnerable families affected by the drought.
He identified Garissa, Isiolo, Kilifi, Mandera, Samburu, Tana River, Wajir, Lamu, Marsabit and Turkana as the ten counties hardest hit by the drought. “The National Drought Management Authority has new data that indicates that the current drought situation could get worse between August and December hence the need for action,” he said. Wamalwa was addressing the press in Lake Naivasha Resort after attending a consultative meeting with Mps from Marsabit and Turkana on how to address the current challenges.
He said that FAO had committed Sh1.5B and EU Sh500m towards assisting the vulnerable families through the provision of water. Wamalwa added that in July, the State released Sh559m through the Hunger Safety network targeting 100,000 vulnerable families affected by the drought. “In August we shall release a similar amount to assist those affected and we are keen on building the communities resilience as part of mitigation measures,” he said. Flanked by the Mps, Wamala added the construction of three mega dams in Turkana, West Pokot and Marsabit were at an advanced stage in a bid to fully address the perennial shortage of water. “We have come to learn that water pans dry fast and are not effective in addressing the water crisis in the semi-arid counties and we are now opting for major dams,” he said.
On his part, the Mp for Saku Raso Dido termed the situation on the ground as critical as families and livestock struggled to get water and pastures respectively. He noted that with schools reopening in a couple of days, there were fears that many students could drop out as they joined their families in searching for water in the affected counties. “We are asking the government to speed up the process of distributing relief food to the affected families as the situation is getting worse by the day for both humans and livestock,” he said.