Relief food
A total of 1.5 million people are in need of relief food in the country according to Principal Secretary for the ASALs and Regional Development, Harsama Kello.
The PS said this when he accompanied Cabinet Secretary for East African Community, the ASALs and Regional Development, Beatrice Askul during a two-day working tour of Turkana County.
Askul said, “We have come to assess the situation of the people around and actually people are affected by lack of food and we have provided relief food to supplement their diet. We promise to add more to curb the situation,” she said. During the visit, Askul led the distribution of relief food supplies, including rice and beans to communities in Losajait and Nakururum in Turkana North and Turkana West respectively.
The PS assured beneficiaries of the cash transfer program that the program is fully in place despite delays in disbursement of funds from the National Treasury. He stated that the delayed funds from the Treasury will be disbursed in less than one month. “Those who have been benefitting from the cash transfer and are in our register will continue getting cumulative amounts which have been skipped because of the delayed budget allocation from Treasury,” he stated
He further stated that the cash transfer program benefits more than 400,000 people across eight counties of Northern Kenya. He noted that the program amounts to a total allocation of Sh4.5 billion The PS underscored the worsening drought situation as he vowed to add more beneficiaries in situations where animals die and food shortages bite.
He noted that relief food which was meant to support 23 counties classified under ASALs has been overstretched to support 38 counties that were affected by serious disasters of floods. County Commissioner for Turkana County, Julius Kavita accompanied the CS during her tour.
Member of Parliament for Turkana North, Ekuwom Nabuin called for the merging of relief food from both National and County governments to meet the growing population’s needs.