The government has placed three counties on the watch list due to severe drought that has hit the country affecting over 3m Kenyans.
The counties put under ‘Alarm stage’ are Marsabit, Turkana and Mandera where the full effects of the drought are being felt with tens of livestock already dead.
This came as the government moved in to expand the Hunger Safety Network to more counties in a bid to cushion families affected by the drought.
Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa admitted that the drought was taking its toll on the country due to failed rains in the last one year.
According to him, projections by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) painted a grim picture with fears that more counties would be affected.
“We have placed Marsabit, Turkana and Mandera under the alarm stage due to the ravaging drought and we are working with the counties to support affected families,” he said.
Speaking in Naivasha during a meeting with governors from the affected counties and senior NDMA officials, Wamalwa said that the government was keen to stop any human deaths from the drought.
To address this, he said that the government had increased the number of counties benefitting from the Hunger Safety Network from four to eight.
He noted that Turkana, Marsabit, Wajir and Mandera benefitted from the first phase adding that Garissa, Samburu, Isiolo and Tana River would benefit from the expanded list.
According to him, the cash transfer programme in the affected counties targeted over 100,000 vulnerable families which were finding it difficult to lay a meal on the table.
“In conjunction with the affected counties we have embarked on the process of supplying water using trucks and we shall roll out the Inua Jamii programme by September,” he said.
The CS added that they would harmonize the cash transfer programme and digitize it to avoid double allocation of funds to the same persons.
On his part, Marsabit Governor Ali Mohamud admitted that the drought had affected nearly all the counties in Northern Kenya.
While calling for donor support, he noted that the cash transfer was the way to go, adding that more water was needed in the counties so that the residents could embark on irrigation.
“Currently the drought in Northern Kenya is severe with many families finding it difficult to get water with Turkana, Mandera and Marsabit being the most affected,” he said.