Once again, Kenya’s response to disasters and its preparedness has come into sharp focus, revealing the country’s inadequacies that cost its peoples lives and property.

The pounding rains have claimed 13 people, even as Meteorological department predicts further rains and flooding.

In its quest to reduce casualties in natural disasters, the Government has formulated a National Policy on Disaster Management to institutionalise mechanisms to address disasters but its success remains dismal.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says Kenyans are exposed to disasters due to poverty, aridity, settlement in areas prone to perennial flooding or areas with poor infrastructure and services, such as urban slums. These factors, are worsened by naturally occurring hazards such as droughts, floods, HIV and Aids, landslides and epidemics and recently, climatic changes.

According to UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Kenya Aeneas Chuma, past disasters have made Kenya better prepared than it was a few years back.

"I believe the fire disasters, floods and droughts the country has gone through previously have made it better prepared than its immediate neighbours," Chuma told The Standard this week.

The UN thinks the country’s population could be classified as highly vulnerable to natural and man-made disaster risks.

"The country does not have a comprehensive disaster management framework and strategies guided by appropriate policy and legislative provisions," says a statement on the UN website.

Forest Fires

The country has been moving from one emergency to another ranging from severe droughts, floods, conflicts, urban violence, food insecurity, forest fires, urban fires and structural challenges in buildings.

These disaster incidences have not been without costs.

The National Disaster Operation Center (NDOC) based at Nyayo house formed 1998 following the devastating effects of the El Nino rains is supposed to coordinate all disaster management activities at a national level, as well monitor post-disaster activities.

It has only 30 members of staff and relies heavily on technical and financial support from other agencies such as the UN’s OCHA, Red Cross, the United Nations Environmental Programme, among others.

NDOC Deputy Director Colonel (Rtd) Joseph King’ori says they are always on alert, relying on officers drawn from various Government ministries and departments.

"Our major handicap is funds. There is totally no kitty for NDOC to access when a disaster occurs. We have to follow the normal Government processes to access any monies. By the time we get the funds, preventable disasters would already have occurred," King’ori told The Standard.

King’ori says with a modest personnel of 30 people without any vehicles, his outfit has been overshadowed by other agencies.

"There have been a number of disasters in Kenya in which the NDOC responded to positively. Some of these disasters have led to massive loss of lives, property and displacements of people," added King’ori.

Recent ones include the El Nino rains that ravaged in May 1997, sweeping away infrastructure valued at Sh76 billion.

National Economy

The UN estimates the 1999-2001 drought, one of the worst in recent times, affected 4.5 million people, decimated nearly 60-70 per cent of livestock in the Arid and Semi-Arid areas.

It also caused crop failure in most parts of the Rift Valley, Coast, Eastern and Central Provinces, resulting in substantial agricultural and infrastructural losses that cost the national economy billions of shillings.

King’ori says no country can claim it is prepared for any major disaster but blames the lack of proper policies to take care of emergencies and lack of proper infrastructure.

"At the moment the way Nairobi is planned makes it difficult to respond to an emergency. Some roads are narrow, jammed with traffic while water hydrants have long been vandalised, making it hard to put out a fire anywhere in the city," said King’ori.

According to Abdishakur Othwai, the head of Disaster Management at the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), the organisation is always prepared for disasters.

"The KRCS is constitutionally mandated to assist the Kenyan Government carry out humanitarian work in times of peace or conflict, natural disasters such as drought, famine and floods," Othwai says.

He says the organisation has over 70,000 volunteers and 350 trained staff on standby all over Kenya, ready to respond to any disaster.

The humanitarian organisation mainly relies on donor funding. It can also access up to Sh60 million if a major disaster occurred anywhere in the country. It boasts of hi-tech communication equipment, hundreds of vehicles, well-trained personnel and specialised tools.

The Bible

"We are always ahead of disasters. The only challenge now is the global economic crunch which has affected our usual budget," Othwai said.

KRCS has developed a Disaster Response Field Manual which every volunteer and staff refers to as the "The Bible."

Othwai says the purpose of the manual is to provide all KRCS personnel, field staff and volunteers with clear guidelines and procedures in order to carry out efficient and effective relief operation in accordance with the fundamental principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the Code of Conduct for Disaster Response.

"The importance of all field staff adhering to the guidelines outlined in this Field Manual is imperative in order to improve KRCS performance in the field of disaster relief response for the benefit of the vulnerable, and KRCS image by proving that we are a well functioning society when it comes to relief work," he says.