The Council of Governors has said community engagement remains the key to dealing with climate change which has become a key point not just in Kenya but the world over.
Speaking in Antalya, Turkey during the ongoing COP31 at a side event on the need for urgent action in combating the effects of climate change, Council of Governors chairperson Muthomi Njuki said the Financing Locally – Led Climate Action (FLLOCA) programme, a multi-donor led initiative to which county governments also contribute, has been critical in pushing for a reduction in climate change effects since the community is leading from the front.
At the side event, Kenya had an opportunity to showcase successes in centering community leadership in developing solutions that contribute to solving the climate change challenges.
Njuki who doubles up as Governor of Tharaka Nithi County said FLLOCA money flows directly from the treasury, to the devolved units, to the wards, and to the communities that have designed the programme.
“That is why we have been able to sort out crises of water, agriculture, health, and infrastructure that has been brought about by the climate change. And we dare say that all the other programmes should follow the same model, where we do not allow money to sit in treasury with the ministries with their straws in it, and planning programmes that have a lot of recurrent expenditure in terms of capacity building, and seminars, and workshops, and very little going to development,” he said.
Njuki said for instance, all issues about maternal health start with the challenge of having access to clean water, housing infrastructure and timely access to health facilities.
“We cannot take out health and treat it as an entity that is not affected by climate change. That is why we are here to take home a concrete funding plan that will enable second funding,” he said.
The governor said of all the donor-funded programmes, FLLOCA has stood out as one with tangible results.
His sentiments were echoed by his Vihiga counterpart Wilber Otichillo, who said Kenya’s adoption of FLLOCA has led the community to take up water conservation efforts as well as adopt smart agriculture.
Otichilo who is also the CoG’s chairperson for the Environment and Climate Change said community engagement where they develop homegrown solutions has greatly reduced bureaucracy and ensures resources meant for combating the effects of climate change effects are used as appropriated.
