- In a rare show of unity, the leaders urged the government and donors to swiftly act to save of the residents and their livestock.
- Led by Eldas MP Adan Keynan and Garissa Township MP Aden Duale, they said the situation is dire and need immediate action to save lives
Image: Photos: MERCY MUMO
Leaders from Northeastern and other pastoralist communities on Friday put aside their political differences and pushed for urgent intervention on drought and famine ravaging the region.
In a rare show of unity, the leaders urged the government and donors to swiftly act to save the residents and livestock.
Led by Eldas MP Adan Keynan and Garissa Township MP Aden Duale, they said the situation is dire and need immediate action to save lives.
“The drought situation is so bad in the entire Northern region,” Keynan, who is Jubilee coalition joint parliamentary secretary, said.
Keynan urged the government agencies to reduce bureaucracies on the release of the funds and other emergency commodities to help the people.
“This disaster is what has informed the government to declare drought a national disaster," he said.
"What we need to do right now is to move with speed, reduce the bureaucracies so that areas where water tracking is required or food needs to go, it should be done so that lives are saved,” Keynan added.
On his part, Duale termed the drought and hunger situation as dire.
“We are telling the government that the situation is dire, the rains have failed and the (weather) forecast is not very good. Going forward the same counties will face depressed rainfall” Duale said.
The former National Assembly Majority leader said they are urging the government to manage the ‘crisis’ in the Northern parts of the country before things get out of hand.
“This is an appeal not only to the government of Kenya. This is an appeal to the international community, the UN, our partners, the US, UK and EU who are already doing substantial work,” he said.
Keynan and Duale, who have not been seeing eye to eye politically, led other leaders during a press conference at Panafric Hotel after a closed door meeting to discuss the situation in the region.
Drought and hunger has been raving the Northern region for months now, threatening lives of the residents. A number of livestock have succumbed to drought.
On Thursday, the weatherman warned that most parts of the drought-hit northern Kenya are unlikely to receive any rain this weekend.
In the five-day forecast shared by head of Meteorological Department Stella Aura, temperatures will remain high until Monday.
On September 8, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared droughty a national disaster in the country, effectively paving the way for mobilisation of resources to combat the problem.
Speaking at the event, Samburu North MP Alois Lentoimaga said the government should intensify food distribution to locals who face starvation.
He said that while the State has opted to directly transfer cash to affected families, the process of registering residents is slow.
“The registration has taken a very long time. Nobody has been registered. It will take another three to four months to register our people,” Lentoimaga said.
He added, “There are no banks there. In the interim, even if the policy says it is cash transfer, let’s supply food to our people.”
He said that if not addressed urgently, the situation could degenerate into a serious humanitarian crisis. Schools may be closed, he warned.