The government has no official records of any Kenyan who has died of hunger in the ongoing drought crisis.
Government spokesman Dr. Alfred Mutua says they only have reports of Somali nationals dying in refugee camps in Kenya and urged anyone who has proof of any Kenyan who has died as a result of starvation to inform relevant authorities.
“If anybody knows anyone who has died of hunger, we need to have that documented,” Dr. Mutua said.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday from his office at KICC, Dr. Mutua confirmed that up to 4.5 million Kenyans are in dire need of food in various parts of Kenya and the governments has set aside 4.5 billion shillings to feed those facing starvation.
“We have enough food to feed those facing starvation but the problem lies in distribution and logistics of gettiAng this food to where they are,” said Dr. Mutua.
The spokesman however said that the government has rolled out a plan to use the military and the National Youth Service to transport relief food to remote areas.
However, in a move likely to indicate admission of the government’s inefficiency in handling the drought crisis, Dr. Mutua alleged that some business cartels are frustrating efforts to distribute relief food in order to gain from the situation.
“ Those politicians directing food to their own areas of preference and cartels trying to benefit from the current drought situation by hiking transportation costs for relief food and threatening government officials will be named and shamed,” said Dr. Mutua.
He however welcomed private sector initiatives geared towards alleviating the current hunger situation but urged them to channel the proceeds towards transport and distribution logistics.
Dr. Mutua’s remarks came only a day after major corporates among them Safaricom Foundation, Kenya Commercial Bank and the Media Owners Association launched a campaign to raise sh500 million to buy and distribute relief food. The initiative dabbed Kenyans for Kenya is set to initially run for four weeks.
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