The government has donated 112 tons of assorted foodstuff for distribution to 150,000 needy people in Taita-Taveta County who are staring at starvation as a result of devastating drought sweeping through the region.
The area County Commissioner Loyford Kibaara said the region has 1600 50-kg bags of rice and 640 bags of beans that will be distributed to the worst affected families in the four sub-counties of Voi, Mwatate, Wundanyi and Taveta.
Speaking in Mwatate during the celebrations of Mashujaa Day, Mr. Kibaara said that data generated from various government agencies and non-stake actors working on the drought situation in the region painted a grim picture that called for urgent intervention.
The administrator pointed out that the livestock sector was also adversely affected with 14,000 head of cattle and 7,400 sheep and goats being in distress from lack of water and fodder.
“We have received 1,600 bags of rice and 640 bags of beans to be distributed to the neediest amongst us. This is the first step of intervention by the government as we work with leaders in the county to generate more interventions,” he said.
The distributing of the relief food will be based on need-basis with families at the highest risk being considered as top priority.
The administrator also disclosed that county and national government leaders will hold an urgent meeting to craft emergency interventions including programs for water trucking for thousands of families in remote areas.
County leaders who attended the celebrations include Governor Andrew Mwadime, Women Representative Lydia Haika and Deputy Governor Christine Kilalo.
In his speech, governor Mwadime said that the county was working closely with the National Government to ensure the residents had food and water. He noted that programs including dredging and desilting of dams have started to promote harvesting of rain water and support families to become food secure.
“We are working closely with the national government and other organizations to give support to our people and help them overcome this drought,” he said.
Last week, the government had convened a meeting with county government and other non-state actors working with communities to mitigate against the current drought. The meeting was aimed at eliminating wastages and duplication of roles to ensure the biggest number of beneficiaries were reached by the proposed interventions.
Organizations including Red Cross and Action Aid amongst others were present.
The drought situation in the region has exacerbated cases of human-wildlife conflict that have drastically gone up. Herds of elephants have strayed from Tsavo National Park and into community areas triggering conflict over the available water.
Tsavo Conservation Area Senior Assistant Director Kennedy Ochieng however says that several ranger units have been deployed to the community areas to push back the jumbos into the park. He also says that KWS has dredged dozens of waterpans to harvest water once the rains come.
Mr. Donald Bon’gosa, the chair of Taita-Taveta Wildlife Conservancies Association (TTWCA); an umbrella body with over thirty ranches, said the drought had caused untold suffering to the ranchers with hundreds of livestock dying from lack of pasture and water.
He warned that if urgent measures were not put in place, the ranches in the county were staring at a calamity of great magnitude. He asked the government to allow ranchers to graze inside Tsavo National Park to avoid loss of their livestock.
“This is a time of great need. We have lost animals and we are staring at a catastrophe if nothing is done. We want the government to allow us to graze inside the park as we wait for the rains to come,” he said.
He added that elephants and buffaloes have depleted water and pasture that was left in the ranches for livestock.
By Wagema Mwangi
