Garissa Muslims hold prayers for rain as drought worsens

Garissa residents have held special prayers to seek divine intervention even as drought worsens.

The prayers (salat al-‘istiqa) were held at Garissa Primary School playgrounds on Sunday.

The ravaging drought has taken a heavy toll on the counties due to depressed rains or lack of rainfall in the past four consecutive rainy seasons.

Kenya Red Cross has said 378,000 people are staring at starvation and the number continues to increase.

The prayers were led by sheikh Hussein Abdullahi.

The ceremony brought together political leaders, Muslims from different parts of the county including Sheikhs, elders, women and the youth.

“This is beyond us, the situation continues to worsen. Human lives and livestock are now in real danger. All we can do is pray Allah showers us with his blessings as he had done before,” Abdullahi said.

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama said that the dire situation calls for more prayers saying they were optimistic that God will answer their prayers and that the region will receive the much-needed rain.

“We have converged here for special prayer as we seek God's favour to open the clouds. May Allah accept our duas and extend his mercy upon us to relieve the pain caused by longstanding drought,” he said.

“We have lost the largest number of livestock. We are staring at a very bleak future as the situation continues to worsen.”

Jama urged neighbouring counties of Isiolo, Tana river and Kitui to be accommodative of each other saying that the prevailing situation was not anyone’s making.

He referred to the tension in parts of Kitui where headers from Garissa and other parts of Northern Kenya were recently chased with their animals and in some instances, the animals were killed.

“When our livestock come to your places kindly accommodate them because this is a natural crisis. We are good neighbours who have always helped each other in times like this,” the governor said.

Sheikh Hassan Abdi called for peace, tranquillity and tolerance among residents from the neighbouring counties saying that too much anger will only make the already bad situation much worse.

“Our people are livestock keepers who have lost several animals. This had rendered them destitute. That is why we gathered together for prayers. We are also calling for peace,” he said.

The National Drought and Management Authority has put Garissa in the alert phase.

The Meteorological department has already issued an alert that there will be less rain between October and December.

The government and other state and non-state actors have enhanced food distribution, animal feeds and water tracking to assist the affected populations.

Edited by Kiilu Damaris