Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa has reiterated that Counties are the first line of defence when disasters and like droughts arise. Speaking in Tana River after commissioning water trucks for the drought affected persons, CS Wamalwa said the drought-hit Counties should set up drought mitigation as an emergency and to adjust their supplementary budgets over the same, “When we have a disaster like this, our first line of defence is our Counties. Counties have a responsibility to serve Kenyans and make sure there is water and also food, when they are overwhelmed, is when the national government comes in to support them,” he said.
He said the government will ensure it does everything possible to make sure Kenyans get clean water and food even during the ongoing drought. However, the government has come under fire after denying reports that no person had died as result of the drought, contradicting reports from the ground, notably in Turkana and Baringo Counties.
The NDMA boss James Oduor had earlier stated that the deaths can’t be directly connected to the drought. Devolution CS Wamalwa on his part has maintained the same narrative, and in Tana River, he said that President Uhuru Kenyatta doesn’t want anyone to die as a result of the drought, “President Uhuru Kenyatta has said he doesn’t want to hear that any Kenyan has died as a result of hunger.”
