Governor Abdullahi wants drought declared national disaster

Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi has called on President William Ruto to declare the ongoing drought a national disaster.

The governor said that the drought has led to a major crisis which eventually is causing the deaths of animals and human beings.

He said declaring drought a national disaster will pile more pressure on the government to mobilise resources to address the situation.

"This will enable the government to mobilise resources to assist affected households and prevent further loss of lives and livelihoods," Abdullahi said.

The governor spoke on Monday in Wajir during a relief distribution exercise.

Abdullahi, who doubles as the vice-chairperson of the Council of Governors said the drought situation is at an alarming stage and on a worsening trend.

For instance, he said in Wajir, the food security situation is classified as crisis phase 3 with over 429,300 people currently food insecure which translates to over 50 per cent of the country’s population.

“Wajir just like other parts of Northern Kenya needs food assistance and an estimated 15 per cent of the population is already in an emergency (IPC4),” governor said.

To cushion food-insecure households against the biting drought and related shocks, the county boss said the county government of Wajir has procured assorted items including 42,000 bags of sifted maize floor, 7,367 cartons of vegetable cooking oil and 4000 bags of beans from the national government.

Abdullahi said the items will be distributed to the most vulnerable households through community-based targeting across the 30 wards in the six sub-counties.

Last week, the National Steering Committee on Drought Response said it had so far raised Sh650 million towards drought mitigation in the country.

The amount has been raised two months after President Ruto formed the team.

According to the latest report from the National Drought Management Authority, Kilifi, Mandera, Marsabit, Samburu, Turkana, Wajir, Isiolo, Kitui and Kajiado are in the alarm stage.

Embu, Narok, Taita Taveta, Makueni, Meru, Nyeri and Lamu Counties are in the alert drought phase.

The drought continues to worsen in 21 of the 23 Arid and Semi-Arid counties.

This has been attributed to the four failed consecutive rain seasons and the late-onset and poorly distributed 2022 short rain season.

The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance currently stands at 4.35 million based on the 2022 Long Rains Food and Nutritional Security Assessment Report.