MP wants drought declared national disaster

Kieni MP Kanini Kega has asked the national government to declare drought a national disaster.

While launching a feeding programme in Karichane Primary School in Kieni, Nyeri County, on Monday, the legislator said that the number of people affected by drought and famine is soaring daily.

“We have seen our livestock die and people seriously affected but if the government is able to declare this a national disaster definitely there will be mitigation measures,” he said.

His constituency, also a semi-arid area, is among the areas affected by low rainfall experienced in the country, subjecting people to starvation.

As a result, he said, education has been affected as fewer students attend school. He said that more than 100 schools in his constituency have been affected because some families have moved to other less affected areas.

Hence, he asked the national government to come up with a feeding programme in learning institutions in affected places.

“All schools in arid and semi-arid areas should be integrated in a school feeding programme. The allocation of funds should be increased so that the children can be given two meals a day,” he said.

Karichane Primary head teacher, Grace Wambui, shared the lawmaker’s views saying the number of pupils has declined from 162 to 120 this year.

“There was a year when the number of students dropped to 90 after their parents relocated to other areas due to drought, making learning for most children unstable. But with the feeding programme we are able to keep more pupils in school,” she said.

The lawmaker will donate 500 bags of maize and 400 bags of beans, among others, to starving constituents.

He vowed to speed up the construction of eight mega dams to increase food security in the region, and urged the government to roll out such measures in other parts of the country.

In Kilifi County more than 200,000 people are facing starvation, also due to drought.