Fw: {UAH} Kenyan anger over Turkana 'starvation' being ignored
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DP Ruto Issues Presser on Drought Situation
DP William Ruto on Monday denied reports of deaths in Turkana and Baringo counties over the prevailing drought situation.
Issuing an update over the hunger situation, Ruto indicated that although 865,000 people require urgent relief, the deaths reported in Baringo, Tiaty and Turkana were not drought related.
Flanked by CSs Mwangi Kiunjuri (Agriculture), Simon Chelugui (Water) and Eugene Wamalwa (Devolution and ASALs), the DP indicated that contrary to this narrative, the county governments were already carrying out the first line of intervention before the national government could step in.
"There should be no cause for alarm. The National and County governments have put into place measures to ensure there are no casualties as a result of this drought," he stated.
DP William Ruto addressing a presser at his Harambee Annex Office on Monday To intervene further, the DP indicated that Ksh2 billion would be released immediately to supply food and water to starving Kenyans in 12 counties hit by the drought.
"The vegetation situation, body condition of livestock and availability of food in the country acts as an indicator on when to carry out the intervention," Ruto stated.
The DP invited the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) CEO James Oduor to further debunk the media reports on hunger-related deaths.
"The deaths were there, but experts have not been able to directly link the deaths to drought, maybe sickness and other issues," he stated.
The NDMA CEO indicated that the current scenario was not an emergency drought situation as was the case in 2017.
"The livestock is in good condition in most places, the pasture is not completely depleted and the livestock prices are still normal.
"Looking at all these factors, we are convinced that unless we get other reports, what we have now does not indicate any deaths as a result of drought," he concluded.
DP William Ruto chairing a meeting at his Harambee Annex Office on Monday
Kenyan anger over Turkana 'starvation' being ignored
Image captionPoor rains, livestock disease, a locust invasion are among the factors blamed for the starvationKenyans have accused their government of ignoring drought victims following reports that at least 10 people have died of hunger in the north-western Turkana region.
The hashtag #WeCannotIgnore has been trending on Twitter in the country.
The Kenyan government has said more than 1.1 million people are facing food shortages.
But authorities say this figure is "normal" and the deaths are not directly related to the drought.
James Oduor from the Drought Management Authorities told the BBC that there is nothing unusual about one million people facing starvation.
"Due to poverty, almost under normal circumstances about a million people always require food assistance because... they are poor," Mr Oduor told the BBC's Newsday programme.
He added that the rains from October to December were lower than normal.
'Not yet an emergency'
Livestock disease, a locust invasion and insecurity in the region have also been blamed.
But Mr Oduor said that this "is not yet emergency".
"For example 2017, in March, at the height of drought, when the president declared drought a national disaster, we had almost 3.4 million [in need]," he said.
The matter has been trending on Twitter in the country following posts by BBC journalist Roncliffe Odit on Monday of these pictures:
Although it is the second largest of Kenya's 47 counties, Turkana is also the poorest.
Situated in the extreme north-west, Turkana is one of the driest and least developed regions of Kenya and some critics say politicians only visit the area when they appeal for votes.
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