Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua will today convene a meeting with County officials from drought affected areas in Kenya.
This follows directives from President William Ruto stating the meeting will put in place urgent interventions to curb the drought crisis in Kenya.
“My deputy Rigathi Gachagua will, Monday, convene a meeting of GoK involving county leaders/officials to harmonise urgent interventions to stem the severely adverse effects of ravaging drought in almost 20 counties that are putting about 3 million people at great risk,” Ruto stated.
The meeting is also aimed at mitigating the effects of the severe drought in almost 20 counties.
While at The UN general Assembly in New York, the President addressed the drought menace in Kenya, saying 3.1 million citizens are affected, terming it a multilateral challenge.
“3.1 million residents of these ASALs are now severely food-insecure on account of scarce rainfall over three consecutive seasons, leading to poor crop and pasture. This unprecedented confluence of intensely adverse events has exacerbated water scarcity and starvation, worsened by rising food prices, thus complicating Kenya’s roadmap towards delivering good quality of life to our citizens,” Ruto stated.
It is estimated that at least 36.1 million people in the Horn of Africa will be affected by the drought by October; including 24.1 million in Ethiopia, 7.8 million in Somalia and 4.2 million in Kenya.