Gachagua visits Tana River, assesses extent of El Nino damage

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Monday visited the area damaged by El Nino rains in the Tana River. 

The DP said his visit was meant to conduct an assessment of the damage caused by the ongoing heavy downpour.

"Resources have been deployed, and work is ongoing to restore road networks and other infrastructure," he said. 

Gachagua was accompanied by Cabinet Secretaries Kipchumba Murkomen (Transport) and Peninah Malonza( ASALs), among other leaders. 

The DP's visit to the area comes days after he urged Kenyans to stay vigilant and avoid areas flooded following the heavy rains. 

The Cabinet had in November through a despatch formed an ad hoc Committee on Disaster Response led by Gachagua. 

Hundreds of Kenyans have been displaced by the El Nino rains and as of December 1, 2023, reports by the Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura  indidated that at least 142 people had died due to the heavy downpour.

"The escalation of floods has led to the establishment of five additional camps to accommodate the growing number of displaced individuals," he said.  

Further, for the mitigation of the effects of flood, Cabinet on November 27 agreed to scale up the scope of humanitarian assistance, with a target of reaching more than 50,000 households in Arid and Semi-Arid counties.

The National Treasury was ordered to release an additional Sh10 billion to county governments this week. 

"The Cabinet has directed the enhanced deployment of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and all public civilian aircraft to transport medical supplies, food and non-food items for targeted distribution as recommended," part of the despatch reads.

In addition, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum was directed to lower the cost of electricity to the public, to promote the increased use of hydro-generated power, which has presently increased to 20 per cent while diesel has gone down from 15 per cent to 10 per cent.

"The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, in consultation with all agencies within the sector, to give priority to maximum production, uptake and distribution of hydro-generated power."

Further, the Executive office ordered the distribution of 150,000 mosquito nets to the affected counties and scaled up in the rapid response to rehabilitate dilapidated road networks. 

"This will facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the affected population."