Narok County Commissioner Isaac Masinde has called for transparency in the distribution of the emergency relief food given by the government to mitigate drought in the county.
Masinde said the distribution of food must involve all the local leaders who included village elders, religious leaders, Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) who would help in identifying the vulnerable groups to benefit from the food.
“I do not want an incident where those who benefit from the food are the rich leaving the poor to continue struggling to put a plate of food on the table. The food is only for the most deserving families,” reiterated Masinde.
He spoke during a meeting with the Deputy County Commissioners, officers drawn from the Agriculture department and Red Cross officials at his boardroom.
The meeting agreed to give 200 bags of rice, 300 bags of beans and 10 cartons of canned beef to each of the eight sub counties in the county.
Among the groups expected to benefit from the food are orphaned children, physically challenged, schools and families most hit by the drought.
The commissioner asked the DCCs to submit returns after the distribution of the food for accountability and transparency.
Narok County is among the 23 counties in the country that were affected by severe drought following a prolonged dry spell that saw many livestock die and water points drying up.
The government committed to provide both short and long term solutions to the drought affected counties and the distribution of the relief food as one of the short term solutions.
Last week, President Uhuru Kenyatta flagged off the consignment of relief food to the 23 arid and semi-arid counties affected by drought to benefit approximately 2.3 million people.
By Ann Salaton
