The State Department for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands and Regional Development Principal Secretary Kello Harsama has revealed that 29 counties have been affected by floods due to ongoing rains, and the government is closely assessing the situation to dispatch help to affected households.
The PS further said that the government has created disaster response committees in the affected counties, which will be led by respective county commissioners.
Speaking after visiting the site where the boat capsized along the Garissa-Madogo Highway, Harsama urged the county commissioners to report the status of the situation in their counties so that a quick response may be done.
“We have come to do an assessment here so that we can give the affected households enough food. The government has unveiled a relief food programme for the people affected by floods countrywide,” Harsama said.
“The county commissioner here and the county security team have put up measures to ensure the guaranteed safety of citizens and that an accident like what happened on the boat will never happen again,” he added.
As of 1 p.m. today, three more bodies had been retrieved from the flooded area, where a boat ferrying at least 41 people capsized, bringing the total of confirmed deaths to 7.
According to the Kenya Red Cross, so far, 16 people, 7 from Garissa and 9 from Madogo, are still missing as the rescue operation continues for the third day.
Garissa Township MP Mohamed Dekow, who was accompanying the PS, called out the Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) for not repairing the road close to four months after it was destroyed by El Nino rains in December last year.
Dekow wondered why, even after transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen announced the allocation of Sh 1 billion for the road during his Garissa visit in January, nothing had been done.
“The last time this section was flooded, we came here with the Deputy President and the Transport Cabinet Secretary. They said that one billion shillings had been allocated to repair this road and the construction of a new Tana-Garissa bridge. It is so unfortunate that on the ground nothing has been done, and that is why we are in this mess again,” Dekow said.
“Someone must take responsibility for this incident. KeNHA must tell us what happened, and at the same time, the person who was operating the ill-fated boat must be arrested and charged for the lives that were lost here,” he added.
The PS was also joined by Tana River Deputy Governor Mahat Loka, Tana River Senator Danston Mungatana, Bura MP Yakub Adow, Tana River Woman Representative Amina Dika, and Tana River County Commissioner David Korir.
By Erick Kyalo
