Hundreds of flood victims in Nyatike, Migori County on Monday benefited from relief food from the national government.
ICT and the digital economy Cabinet Secretary (CS) Eliud Owalo distributed more than 100 bags of assorted food items including maize, rice and cooking oil. More than 300 other bags of relief will be distributed later to the residents, according to the CS.
Mr Owalo assured the residents that the state will not allow any Kenyan to die from hunger and floods.
“The state is also keen to avail drugs and other medical kits to save victims in the region and elsewhere in the country,” he added.
The CS noted that the government had mapped out all the regions affected by floods in the country and will do everything possible to save victims by providing them with relief supplies and tarpaulins.
He said all these were just short-term efforts to protect lives adding that the state had also put in place long term measures that included promoting food production in the entire nation.
In view of this, the state has put more focus in supplying subsidised fertilisers, seeds and other farm inputs to the people.
“There are also efforts to promote irrigation farming rather than rain fed farming in order to mitigate the effects of the ever-increasing weather vagaries hitting the nations every year,” he explained.
To reduce the speed of flash floods, the state was also disbursing billions of shillings to build dams like Soin in higher Nandi hills to remedy the Nyando floods.
He announced efforts to promote fishing and gold businesses to bring development in the region.
“We are also keen to improve road infrastructure and the general political and economic development in the area,” he said.
The function was also graced by area County Commissioner David Gitonga, former Migori Governor Okoth Obado and former Kisumu governor Jack Ranguma among others.
The food beneficiaries from Angugo, Nyora, Sere and Kabuto areas of Nyatike Sub County thanked the government for the gesture saying they have lost all their crops in the floods.
By George Agimba
