Death toll from starvation rises to nine in Baringo

Seven more people are reported to have lost their lives in Baringo County from biting hunger, bringing death toll from hunger related incidents to nine.

A chief in the area showed Citizen TV some of the fresh graves of residents who succumbed to hunger complications, depicting how severe the situation is.

In the neighbouring Sialle village, three more people are reported to have succumbed to similar complications.

Meanwhile, Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa flagged off more than 600 tonnes of grains as relief food in Turkana County where 200,000 residents are facing starvation in the county following the drought situation.

“We will be going to all these areas to see what we can do. County had started food distribution but vast county of 70,000m,” said CS Wamalwa.

Ironically, the government has in store at least 3.6 million bags of maize in its strategic food reserve.

” We had a bumper harvest…it is not that we have food shortage but that drought is biting. And we must come to ensure no Kenyan loses their life,” said CS Wamalwa.

The initial response left to county governments, the situation is slowly worsening with at least 900,000 people in 12 counties facing starvation.

Just ten months ago, several parts of the now drought stricken counties were flooded, so much water that ended up in the ocean but not without familiar words.

“Instead of relief we want resilience…we want to store water. The future lies in building more dams and increasing our water infrastructure…,” said CS Wamalwa then.

The long rains are coming, no new dams constructed, no real returns from irrigation projects that have taken in billions of shillings.