No drought deaths in Kenya, no food crisis, Ruto insists
Deputy President William Ruto on Wednesday insisted that no
Kenyan has starved to death because of the drought in parts of the
country.
Speaking during the Inter-professional Summit in Mombasa, Dr Ruto dismissed media reports that 11 people have died.
“There
is a lot of fake news about what is happening. We have been told that
11 people have died but that is not true. No one has died as a result of
the drought and we are working round the clock to ensure that no one
dies of hunger,” said Mr Ruto.
He said chiefs who reported the deaths were taken for questioning "as they are playing around with a serious matter".
'NO CRISIS'
The Deputy President further said the country is not facing a food crisis but a challenge in food distribution.
“We are working with other government
departments and counties to ensure we accelerate distribution of food
across the country,” he said, citing collaboration with parties
including the World Food Programme (WFP).
However,
several people have reportedly died of hunger-related complications in
Tiaty, Baringo County, while thousands of others face starvation as the
ongoing drought takes its toll.
Kositei
sub-location chief Jack Ronei said deaths linked to hunger have been
reported in Kamusuk, Kositei and Seretion, where four people have died.
He described the famine situation as dire and called for urgent
distribution of relief food to avert more deaths.
In
Turkana, which is the most affected according to Devolution Cabinet
Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, the situation is just as bad. A locust
infestation has worsened the situation, almost depleting the entire
vegetation in the county.
In Makueni,
thousands of residents are facing starvation following the failure of
the short November-December rains, which led to crop failure.
INTERVENTIONS
Dr
Ruto further said the government had identified both short and long
term interventions that will ensure “we get out of a situation which is
not an emergency because it is expected”.
On short term interventions, he said rains are expected to fall next Friday according to the Meteorological Department.
“Our
long term solution was the construction of dams. As an administration,
we decided that this term we will build 57 mega dams meant to store
sufficient water and provide permanent solutions to the crisis [facing]
livestock and food production,” he said.
However,
the government has been on the spot over the phantom Arror and Kimwarer
dam projects in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, and an investigation is
underway to establish how Sh21 billion was lost.
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