Govt declared drought national disaster too late Raila

Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) co-principle Raila Odinga has blamed the drought situation in the country on poor intervention by the government.

According to the former premier, the government has taken a lot of time to declare the drought that has affected about 2.4 million Kenyans a National Disaster.

“Declaring drought a national disaster is something which should have been done four months ago. Nearly 23 counties are affected and innocent Kenyans are suffering and dying,” said Mr Odinga.

Speaking during the burial of the late Mzee Gilbert Samuel Mitula in Rarieda Sub-county, the August 8 General Election presidential hopeful urged the government to act faster and ensure that all affected Kenyans receive relief food. He also raised concern regarding the uneven distribution of relief food in the country.

“I want to suggest to the government to use the military to distribute food to the affected people throughout the country, and this should be done without any form of discrimination,” he said.

President Kenyatta on Friday (10^th Feb 2017) declared drought a National Disaster and appealed to local and international partners to come and support the government in dealing with the menace that has not only affected humans, but also livestock and wild animals.

Many parts of the country have not received rains for the last one year, a situation experts say can be compared to the infamous drought that the country witnessed in 1959.

Edited by Majanga Michael