GOVERNMENT TO SEND 3K TO KENYANS VIA MPESA

The government has called for urgent donor support to help 2.5 million people currently in need of food aid between now and December.

Public Service, Gender and Special Programmes CS Margaret Kobia said the National Treasury is in the process of releasing another Sh1.2 billion for food distribution in the month of November to 23 ASAL Counties affected by drought.

She spoke during a media briefing on the drought situation after holding a consultative meeting with development partners in the ASAL sector working group in Kenya.

She said in December, there will be no food distribution to the affected areas but instead, the Government will give cash of Sh3,000 per household per month.

On September 8, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the drought affecting parts of the country a national disaster.

To adequately address the impending crisis, the CS has said the Government has identified priority needs in key sectors amounting to Sh7.3 billion.

“This will cover the costs of delivering food and safety needs, livestock, health and nutrition, agriculture, education and water for the period ending December 2021,” said Kobia.

The CS said currently, eight Counties are in alarm drought phase. These include Garissa, Isiolo, Lamu, Mandera, Marsabit, Tana River, Turkana and Wajir where the outlook for the 2021 short rains is worrying.

“A further 12 Counties are on the brink of sliding from alert to alarm phase. Forecasts show that there will be generally be depressed rainfall across all the ASALs and a highly depressed rainfall in the North-East of Kenya between now and December,” she said.

Interventions
Kobia has said that as part of action to respond to the national disaster, the multi-agency team put in place measures to ensure that citizens of the affected counties are urgently supplied with food and other commodities to sustain their livelihoods.

So far the National Government has provided Sh1.2 billion for purchase and distribution of food in October to 2.5 million people in 23 ASAL Counties.

Some Sh450 million has also been distributed to Kenya Defence Forces for livestock off-take, purchase and distribution of livestock feed.

Another Sh350 million has been allocated to the Ministry of Water and Sanitation for water trucking, and Sh500 million to National Drought Management Authority through to European Union for drought emergency response in non-food interventions.

Kobia said the Government is in the process of providing a second round of resources for interventions between November and December.

Sourced from The Star