Kitui county assembly members have asked the government to declare the drought situation in parts of the country a national disaster.
Speaking in Mombasa after , Kitui county assembly speaker Kelvin Katisya, says despite the government’s intervention to release relief food to drought stricken counties, more stringent interventions are needed to cushion lives.
President William Ruto last week flagged off relief food targeting about 3.5 million Kenyans affected by the drought that has ravaged 23 counties across the country.
“There is hunger everywhere; we thank the president for the relief food, as Kitui County we have planned that when we resume sittings we will prioritize things that affect the people of Kitui including the drought situation, “said Katisya.
The 57 assembly members have vowed to prioritize passing supplementary budgets courtesy of the county executive as to deal with the biting drought, water challenges bedeviling the county.
“We have decided to work together with our governor irrespective of our political party affiliations, we have also pledged to work with the president to ensure his bottom up economic model serves its purpose,” said Katisya.
The members who are in one week induction training in Mombasa ahead of their first assembly sitting on Tuesday say residents have continued to face hunger, and therefore urgent measures are needed to remedy the situation.
They said the area is facing acute shortage of water and drought in parts of the expansive Kitui County.
Katisya said the county will work united and will embrace the government of the day so that its people can get the desired development.
“When an MP works for two terms they get pension, when an MCA works for two terms there is nothing, we want to push for some of the benefits that will ensure the MCAs deliver services to the people without being compromised,” he added.
Tharaka MCA Godfrey Muthengi said the assembly is seeking to provide a solution based leadership by ensuring prudent use of county public resources as well as keeping the executive in check.
“We will ensure that Kitui people get the desired development they deserve, and we promise our people to have trust with us as we embark on the journey to steer oversight and also ensure people centered government,” said Muthengi.
Muthengi said the induction workshop will provide insights to the newly elected members to understand their roles as well as standard procedures of the assembly.
“As MCAs we ask the president to announce a national disaster so that everyone in this country can get relief food, we are asking our governor to bring a supplementary budget that we will pass it to help our people including getting seeds to plant when rainfall resumes” said Muthengi.