Tana River County govt to spend Sh100m to feed victims of ongoing drought

The Tana River County government has suspended most of its activities to focus on mitigating the prolonged drought that has affected almost half of the region’s residents.

The county will spend Sh100 million in purchasing food to feed residents who have been adversely affected by the ongoing drought.

Wednesday, the county’s treasury informed the public that they would only concentrate on water trucking to the more than 70,000 affected.

The county has been delivering water to about 150 different points, spending about Sh4 million daily in buying food.

It has hired 36 water trucks, which are doing trips 24-hours as the county races to save lives.

About 100,000 head of cattle in in the county also risk starvation because of the severe drought that has caused water shortage in the Tana delta.

All water points in the vast county have dried up following the prolonged drought.

Governor Hussein Dado has sent a passionate appeal to donors and the national government to help the affected residents.

He asked the national government to donate part of the maize harvested from Galana Kulalu to help the residents.

“All resources are being channelled to save lives but still it’s a drop in the ocean considering the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis we are battling,” Mr Galgallo Fayo, the County’s Director of Communication said.

Mr Fayo confirmed the suspension of most of none-essential activities, noting that this will help the county to prioritise on giving aid to the affected.

He clarified that the directive will not affect ongoing projects but new projects will be put on hold until after the drought, noting that saving lives is more important at this point.