The national government has stepped in to deal with the drought situation in at least ten Counties countywide. Turkana County is currently the hardest hit County by drought. Speaking to the press, Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa said the national government will step in to support relief efforts in Turkana County from Friday. He said other Counties which will receive help after Turkana are West Pokot, Mandera, Garissa, Baringo, Kilifi, Tana River, Marsabit, Makueni, Kajiado, Kwale and Isiolo.
The Devolution CS said County governments play a huge role in dealing with these
CS Wamalwa urged County governments to put in place measures to deal with drought, “In the meantime, we are also urging all County governments, as required, they are supposed to set aside emergency funds to address emergencies such as these. They are our first line of defence to ensure there is no loss of lives and we will be coming in as the national government to support them, to complement what they are doing,” he said.
The CS said the current climate change and global warming challenges are causing problems like droughts. He said parts of the country are currently experiencing temperatures they’ve never experienced before as a result. He added that the government intends to ensure that they don’t take relief food to the ASALs Counties, but to build on resilience, “We want to see how we can build on water harvesting strategies, building of water infrastructure and irrigation so that with the Big Four focus we had in Kirinyaga, food security can become a reality and we do not have Kenyans facing the dangers they are facing now because of the challenges of climate change.”
