2.7 Million Hit By Drought and in Dire Need of Relief Food

The number of people affected by drought in Kenya has risen from 1.4 million to 2.7 million in a span of one month with different quarters now calling on the national government to announce the situation as a national disaster and one that requires emergency solutions.

A total of nine counties in the country have been hit by savers drought with residents in these counties being at the brink of starvation. Mandera, Turkana, Garissa and Baringo are some of the most affected counties.

Thousands of livestock have died due to lack of pasture and water leaving the pastoralists, who entirely depend on livestock with nothing to fall back to. Already, at least five deaths have been reported as a result of the pangs of hunger despite persistent assurances by the government that no Kenyan will die of hunger.

On Monday, the Council of Governors met and agreed that each county had to donate a total of one million shillings to the Kenya Red Cross to help it in its quest to fight starvation in the country. Kenya Red Cross had announced that it needed at least one billion shillings to help feed more than 300,000 families that are in dire need of relief food. By Monday this week, Red Cross had only managed to raise 18 million shillings.

Governors through their chairman Peter Munya, have blamed the national government for failing to coordinate with the county governments in the affected counties to help save people from starvation and prevent Kenyans from dying.

The weatherman has indicated that the drought situation in the country is set to get worse as the rain is likely to come with in April or June and that even if it will, it will not be enough to help sustain Kenyans for long.

Meanwhile, in Nairobi, the rationing of water which begun a month a go is still on as water at Ndakaini Dam, the source of more than 80 percent if water in the city continues to reduce. The water in the dam is now less than 45 percent, being the lowest water level in years.

Water vendors within the city have been reaping big from the ongoing water rationing by the County Government of Nairobi. A 20-liter jerican of water is going at between 20 and 50 shillings from the normal 3 and 5 shillings.