Thousands of drought stricken residents of Turkana County today received food relief from the Government. Devolution Principal Secretary John Konchellah, presided over the distribution exercise at Lokori, Lokichar and Lodwar, in the vast county that has experienced poor rains. Mr. Konchellah distributed bags of maize, beans, rice and cooking oil as part of the wider government campaign to mitigate the drought situation in the arid and semi-arid regions of the country. The Principal Secretary assured the people of Turkana County that the Government will continue giving relief food during emergency and appealed to County Governments and other relief agencies to partner with government to provide humanitarian assistance to the people affected by drought. The Ministry of Devolution and Planning, he said, has already dispatched truck loads of relief food to all areas that have experienced food shortages, contrary to media reports that the government was not doing enough to assist hunger stricken Kenyans. Mr. Konchella further noted that the Government allocated Kshs. 1.3 billion in the current financial year to all counties for emergency relief programs. “No one slept on job. We have enough food supplies. We had prepared adequately for this intervention based on the findings of the food security surveillance we conducted last year that showed an impending drought situation in some parts of the country.” said Konchellah. The Counties that have received food relief since the exercise began in December last year include Turkana, Marsabit, Mandela, Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo, Samburu, Baringo and Laikipai. Another consignment for Coastal Counties of Tana River, Kwale and Taita Taveta will be dispatched by the end of this week. The Principal Secretary urged County Governments to utilize the funds allocated to them for emergency relief service to ensure food supplies get to the furthest location where people are starving. Turkana South Member of Parliament, James Lomenen, said that he will lobby fellow legislatures to amend the law in order to return the emergency relief and disaster function from County Government to the National Government. The meetings were also addressed by Turkana North MP, Chris Nakuleu, Protus Akujah of Loima Constituency and Turkana County Commissioner Julius Mathenge.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 14:17:56 +0000
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