Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung'aro who led the distribution exercise, said the county has lost 21 people in the disaster, and cautioned residents to avoid more loss of lives.
Mung’aro who was accompanied by Kilifi senator Stewart Madzayo, several MCAs led by the Garashi MCA Theophilus Fondo and some County and National government officials, said his administration has now thrown its weight behind the El Nino disaster, and promised residents that they will be getting full support from the county throughout the disaster period.
Speaking in Garashi and Bate villages where he officiated the distribution exercise, the governor said those who have camped in schools will be given priority, but even those who are at home and have no food shall be considered as they have been affected.
“In Kilifi, since the El Nino rains started, we have lost 21 people in Ganze, Bamba, Rare, Junju un Chonyi, Magarini, Burangi, Marereni, Malindi Kisumundogo,” he said.
Mung’aro said he is saddened by the child who was washed away by flood waters in Malindi town, as he was not taken care of.
The governor said he brought 150 bags of maize, 345 bags of rice, 60 bags of beans, and 60 bales of flour, adding that there was no reason for others to be denied food as all people have been affected.
Senator Madzayo criticised Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for urging those in opposition to ditch the ODM party leader or the Azimio coalition party for the Kenya Kwanza coalition, if they want to get relief.
Madzayo said Gachagua was wrong for giving conditions to people affected by floods in Tana River after asking the opposition leadership in the area to join the government if they wanted to get help.
“We are opposed to the statements by Gachagua that this country is not a company, that one we can’t accept in any way even by force, Kenya cannot be a company because every Kenyan has a right wherever he is," he said.
The senator said even if the Coast region did not vote for the government, it was their democratic right to choose the leader they wanted.
He said they cannot be told to ditch their party leader and asked him to respect the Coast region from Tana River to Kilifi, Mombasa and the other counties.
“Let us stick to Azimio as it’s the one that will save us,” he said.
MCA Fondo said Bate and Garashi areas have been affected by the floods because they are on low land area.
“These people are in lowlands and live near rivers, that is why they have been affected,” he said.
Residents said they were displaced by the floods and lost crops which were on the farms, and asked the governor to support them with seeds to begin planting.
Currently, they said they are camping at Garashi Primary School waiting for the water levels to go down.
Other residents said they want the County government to help them with water pumps to begin irrigation.
