Govt says country ready to handle drought

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary, Willy Bett, has allayed fears of starvation due to the drought being experienced in most parts of he country.

According to Bett, the country has 21 million bags of maize which he says is enough to feed Kenyans for five months.

This comes just hours after Members of Parliament from Pokot, Turkana and Samburu Counties called on the national and county governments to step up the supply of relief food to counties being ravaged by ongoing drought.

Led by Tiaty MP Asman Kamama and William Cheptumo of Baringo North, the seven legislators warned the situation is dire saying the whole of North Rift is facing serious drought and acute hunger.

The Legislators singled out Tiaty, Baringo North and South as well as Mogotio as the most affected by the ongoing drought after failed rains further appealing to donors to come and assist those affected.

The MPs further demanded that President Uhuru Kenyatta declares drought a national disaster and allocate contingency funds to affected areas before residents starve to death as some are now surviving on wild fruits.

In Taita Taveta County, at least 71,000 residents are facing starvation due to prolonged drought in the region.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) has urged both the national and the county government to step in and avert the situation.

At the same time, the authority has called for mitigation measures to deal with the situation among them livestock vaccination, provision of livestock supplementary feeds as well as sensitization on voluntary livestock off take.