The Council of Governors has said more efforts need to be put in place to handle the drought situation in Kenya.
In a statement on Thursday, chairperson Martin Wambora said some of the counties that have been affected have put measures to caution residents from the severe effect of the drought.
Isiolo, Garissa, Marsabit, Kilifi, Mandera, Samburu, Kitui, Tana River, Turkana, and Wajir are among the counties hardly hit by the drought.
“The affected County Governments have set aside Sh1.24 billion to support drought emergency operations,” Wambora said.
He added that over two million Kenyans require immediate food aid and support.
Also, the counties affected have set up Emergency Drought Steering Committees that will implement drought contingency plans.
The Ministry of Devolution has also been asked to develop partners and the private sector to continue partnering with counties to safeguard livelihoods in the ASAL counties.
Early in the month, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the drought affecting parts of the country a national disaster.
The President instructed the National Treasury and the Ministry of Interior to spearhead Government's efforts to assist affected households including water and relief food distribution as well as livestock uptake.
Covid-19
Wambora noted that the number of cases of coronavirus has declined, adding that the county is however not yet out of the woods.
There are 570 ICU beds across all the counties, out of which 87 are occupied, which is about 16 per cent of the total number of beds.
There are 383 HDU beds, out of which 65 beds are occupied.
With the high demand for oxygen across the county, Wambora said in the last one month, 20 counties reported being overstretched, especially during the peak of the fourth wave of the virus which was in August.
The council has also called for a boost in the testing of the virus, saying that some of the counties including West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Samburu, Wajir, Tharaka Nithi, Lamu, Kwale, and Bomet have been conducting less than a hundred tests per day.
