State ramps up food distribution to 2.8 million starving Kenyans

Government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna has said the state has put in place elaborate measures to cushion the 2.8 million Kenyans facing starvation.

Oguna spoke on Saturday in Bura East, Garissa where he flagged off relief food for Galmagala and Mansabubu locations.

He said that the ongoing relief food distribution in 23 ASAL counties is a stopgap measure to ensure that no Kenyan dies from hunger.

Oguna said so far, the government has distributed 55,000 bags of rice, 42,000 bags of beans and 220 cartons of canned meat to vulnerable households in the affected counties.

“Today, the government is distributing 500 bags of rice and 400 bags of beans to households in Bura East. We want to be clear that this food is for the vulnerable families, if you can afford food, let those who cannot afford benefit,” he said.

The spokesperson said the food aid will run alongside the cash transfers, the hunger safety net and livestock offtake programmes.

He said the programme is a complementary effort to the cash transfers, especially for those who have challenges with their mobile phones and network issues.

“NGAO officers will coordinate to reach them and make sure they receive relief food as they wait to receive the cash transfers,” Oguna said.

The spokesperson said the food is purchased locally to ensure that there is growth and circulation of money in our economy.

He also said the government in collaboration with other partners has been distributing animal food pallets to farmers and buying the weak livestock through Kenya Meat Commission.

Oguna said the government is working on resilience programmes to ensure that in future, citizens in drought prone areas will be able to sustain themselves.

“What we are currently doing is an emergency response and it is not the government's plan to distribute food every year,” he said.

Garissa county commissioner Boaz Cherutich said the chiefs and food distribution committees should ensure that only the needy families get food.

Cherutich said residents should be keen and report any misuse of the relief food.

“We shall act tough on those found to have diverted the relief food, “he said.

Some 34,000 households in Garissa have each received Sh3,000 in the cash transfers worth more than Sh102 million.

The commissioner said 9,252 households in Garissa county will benefit from the Hunger Safety Net Programme where each household will receive Sh5,400 after every two months.

The HSNP was first piloted in Mandera, Wajir, Turkana and Marsabit in 2009. It has since been expanded to Garissa, Isiolo Tana River and Samburu counties.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)