Graft hurt Kenya hunger response-report

The Kenyan Government response to last year's drought-related hunger while effective in parts was held back by corruption, two international aid agencies say in a report published on Wednesday.

Investment during the past decade in a national early warning system “arguably” enabled Kenyan authorities to react more efficiently to the 2011 emergency than to previous droughts, says the joint assessment by Oxfam and Save the Children.

At the same time, the report adds, “there is a pressing need for greater transparency and urgency in tackling corruption".

Noting that the Kenyan government allocated Sh10bn (U.S. $11 million) for drought relief, the report says there is no indication that this aid produced positive results.

“It is not clear where the money was reallocated from, or how (and whether) it has been spent,” the NGOs declare.

“Political distractions, with a new Constitution and corruption allegations for major government and donor-funded projects in the drylands, reduced the national capacity for response,” the report continues.

It contrasts the government's inadequate response with that of the Kenyan public, which was “substantial.”

The agencies also point to policy issues that they urge Kenyan officials to address.

“Too much weight is given to the food aid system (as opposed to the national early warning system), which is unwieldy and unable to respond quickly to an emerging crisis,” the report finds.

“In Kenya, assessments are only carried out twice a year and by the time the reports are produced, the figures of those needing aid are already several months out of date.”

The government has acknowledged that its response is reactive and dominated by crisis management, rather than anticipatory and focused on preventive risk management, the report adds.

International donors are also faulted for not responding timely to food shortages, which took the lives of as many as 100,000 people in the Horn between April and August of last year.

“The donor response at scale was too slow,” charges the report, which is entitled “A Dangerous Delay.”

It adds that “the UN’s humanitarian appeal in November 2010 seriously underestimated the number of people in need of emergency aid".