Over 14 counties face starvation as drought bites

Residents in more than 14 counties are facing starvation due to the ongoing drought across the country, the Devolution ministry has warned.

Chief Administrative Secretary Hussein Dado yesterday said the ministry had requested for funds from the National Treasury to prevent the situation from turning into a national crisis.

Mr Dado was addressing the Senate Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations, which sought to know the ministry’s plans in light of a report by the National Drought Management Authority that more than 800,000 people were facing hunger.

“Our estimation is that we require between Sh6 billion and Sh8 billion to mitigate the hunger arising from the ongoing famine,” Dado told the Senator John Kinyua-led team.

Counties identified in the agency’s report as being at risk most were Kitui, Turkana, Marsabit, Samburu and Tana River.

The drought agency raised the red flag and indicated that arid and semi-arid counties had been warned to expect a decline in food, water and pasture. “The declining trend is attributed to the poor rainfall performance observed during the month of December.”

Senator Kinyua warned that deaths arising from hunger would not be tolerated and demanded an immediate response by the Government.