Kenya:Wajir governor seeks govt help over drought

By BRUHAN MAKONG

The Wajir County government has urged the national government to release money from the contingency fund to help drought-hit counties.

Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi said the money is meant to deal with drought emergencies in affected counties.

“I want to appeal to the national government through the contingency funds that is meant to deal with emergencies to help us by responding to these emergencies,” he said.

The national government, he said, should play its part in responding to disasters.

Speaking in Dadajabula ward at the border of Kenya and Somalia, the governor said the county has not received a single drop of rain this year.
“In such a time last year we received heavy rainfall to a level that our roads became impassable. This year we have not received any rain in our county and the neighbouring counties,”

‘DESPERATE SITUATION’

The governor said although the situation does not seem “as desperate as it is” because of the efforts of the county government, people were suffering.

The county has sunk boreholes and is offering help to locals hit by drought.

Mr Abdullahi added that the county was facing a greater challenge of migration where pastoralists are migrating from other counties as drought menace escalates in the northeastern counties.

“We are doing our best to save lives of the citizens and their livestock but the situation is getting more desperate in many parts of the county partly because of the extra burden that our borehole systems and water maintenance system is having to bear,” he said.

The governor said that the county was diverting substantial amount of money that is meant for development of the county to deal with the severe drought.