Tana River Governor Hussein Dado has launched a Sh160 million relief food programme to benefit 97,000 drought victims in the county.
The amount will cover rice, beans and cooking oil, Dado said during the official flagging-off of the second batch of the relief on Wednesday.
It includes 12,500 bags of rice and 8,050 of beans – all 50 kgs; and 150,000 litres of cooking oil.
“The food will help us avert loss of lives,” Dado noted adding the county has been spending Sh3 million on the daily supply of water to 154 villages in four wards.
Tana River’s boreholes and water pans have dried up.
The Governor said two people died as they attempted to fetch water from dry pans for their animals.
“We do not want to see any more loss of lives from hunger or lack of water. We last experienced such a disaster in 1984,” he said.
There was a beehive of activities at the relief food stores as trucks lined up to load the supplies.
The governor flagged of a fleet of trucks to Asa, one of the most affected areas located more than 300 km from Hola.
Dado dismissed critics who have accused his government of failing to take action to mitigate the effects of the famine.
“Those issuing statements in air-conditioned offices in Nairobi do not know what is happening on the ground. They should come on board and intervene,” he said.