Call for relief food as drought affects 60pc of Garissa County residents

Drought has affected over 60 per cent of Garissa County residents who are in dire need of relief food supply as the current situation worsens.

Speaking to journalists in Garissa Town on Sunday evening, National Drought Management Authority chairperson Agnes Ndetei said the current dry spell in the county is worsening.

She said that the national and county governments will ensure that the suffering brought about by the current situation is minimized.

Mrs Ndetei added that a coordination centre will be set up from Tuesday at the governor’s office to provide information and data on the drought.

“All information received from the sub-counties will be fed into the system and updated on a daily basis so that all those interested in assisting the drought victims can be guided on how to go about,” she added.

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama said records indicate that this could be the worst drought ever witnessed in decades.

The governor said his administration has eight tankers transporting water to the affected areas but an additional 15 trucks are needed to adequately manage the situation.

NO SCHOOLS CLOSED

County Commissioner James Kianda said that the seven sub-counties require at least 421 tons of relief food for the next one month adding that Hulugho, Fafi and Ijara are the most affected.

Mr Kianda also revealed that no school has been closed because of the drought as has been reported by a section of the media.

The administrator said that a county steering committee meeting will be held on Tuesday where reports from all stakeholders, among them the Kenya Red Cross and the World Food Programme, will be consolidated into one document to assist in mitigating on the drought.

HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT

Meanwhile, there has been an escalation of human-wildlife conflicts with at least one person being killed while several others are nursing injuries at the Garissa County Referral Hospital after they were attacked by buffaloes.

A herder, Muhummed Dire Yartow, died on the spot in Galmagala after he was attacked by a herd of buffaloes which, according to a local administrator, are roaming the area looking for water.

Two other people, Yaqub Mogow and Hussein Abdi, who were attacked by buffaloes in same area in separate incidents, are nursing serious injuries at the Garissa referral hospital.

According to Chief Abdullahi Bare, the drought in the region is to blame for these incidents as wild animals search for water and pasture in the same areas with domestic animals.