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The government yesterday announced a raft of measures aimed at mitigating the effects of the El Nino rains which include the disbursement of Sh7 billion contingency funds.

The county governments will at the same time receive Sh10 billion on top of another similar amount released last week as shareable revenue to the devolved units.

A dispatch from the State House stated that the heavy rains have already claimed 76 lives and displaced 35,000 households.

During a Cabinet meeting chaired by President William Ruto yesterday at State House Nairobi, it was directed that the Sh7 billion contingencies fund that Parliament has approved in both the Budget and first Supplementary Appropriations for the 2023/24 financial year be directed to humanitarian response, including distribution and supply of medical commodities, food and non-food items, rehabilitation of infrastructure and resettlement of displaced families.

County governments have also been asked to allocate part of their shareable revenue to mitigate the effects of the rains.

In a bid to access areas affected by floods and facilitate delivery of humanitarian assistance to the affected people, the Cabinet said five roads and one airstrip will be reopened today after the government repaired the sections that were rendered impassible after the two months’ deluge.

“Infrastructure restoration is being implemented following damage caused by the rains. The following have been repaired: Mbogolo Bridge on the Mtwapa-Malindi Road, Jilango Centre on the Nuno-Modogashe Road, Maadathe Centre on the Wajir-Mandera Road, Ohio Centre on the Nuno-Modogashe Road, Garbaqoley in Mandera and Garissa Airstrip has been repaired and commercial flights resume tomorrow (today),” a dispatch from the Cabinet meeting reads.

Mosquito nets

Other repairs that are expected to be completed today include at Maalmim and Togbub on the Nuno-Modogashe Road and Kotulo, Mandera, on the Wajir-Mandera Road while sections of Thika-Garissa Road at Tula, and Arer and Moyale-Rhamu Road which were extensively damaged expected to be reopened later.

“National Treasury to further rationalize the current budget and direct Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to commence reallocation of funds in their budgets to support the emergency response being undertaken by the State,” directed the Cabinet while sanctioning the distribution of over 150,000 mosquito nets to the affected counties.

In what will be a reprieve for Kenyans who are weighed down by the high cost of living, the Cabinet directed the Ministry of Energy to lower the cost of hydro-generated electricity to increase its use in the country.

“The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, in consultation with all agencies within the sector, gives priority to maximum production, uptake and distribution of hydro-generated power. The Ministry of Energy to pass the benefit of lower electricity tariffs to the public in a manner that promotes the increased use of hydro-generated power, which has presently increased to 20 per cent while diesel has gone down from 15 per cent to 10 per cent.”

Downgraded

The Cabinet further revealed that Sh500 million had been disbursed to Kenya Cooperative Creameries (NEW KCC) to mop up excess milk during the rainy season adding that the government will airlift medical supplies worth Sh180 million using Kenya Defence Forces to Wajir County.

Meanwhile, State House yesterday defended President Ruto from claims that he wrongly predicted that there would be no El Nino thus the late intervention by the government saying that the Head of State only relied on meteorological department reports.

State House spokesman Hussein Mohammed Ruto only made a pronouncement of the rains after the Met department downgraded the El-Nino phenomenon to a slightly above average rainfall.

Despite the contradiction which appears to have led late intervention by the government, Mohammed maintained that the government took the warning by Met department seriously and is equally taking necessary steps control the suffering occasioned by the downpour.

“The warning from the Met Department was taken seriously and that is why he (President Ruto) was the first person to pronounce himself on the matter. They classified this as an El Nino phenomenon and there was a warning.

The same Met downgraded, so the President was speaking from information from Met and then the President communicated. The most important thing is to deal with the situation at hand,” Mohammed stated.

The ongoing rains have put the lives of over 500,000 people in danger.

Yesterday, Kenya Red Cross officials were busy evacuating members of 100 households in Bala village, Homa Bay County to Bala Primary School after their homes were engulfed by floods.

The State’s intervention according to the dispatch was being undertaken in a joint effort between the National and Country Governments, which incorporates the  Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the National Youth Service (NYS) in operation with the Kenya Red Cross Society.

Ad hoc commitee

To fortify the national response, the Cabinet sanctioned additional interventions which include scaling up the scope of humanitarian assistance to reach more than 50,000 households in ASAL counties.

The Cabinet further directed the enhanced deployment of the KDF and all public civilian aircraft to transport medical supplies, food and non-food items for targeted distribution as recommended.

The meeting also sanctioned a proposal be sent to Parliament for the replenishment of the Contingencies Fund and the rationalization of the budget under Supplementary Appropriations II of FY2023/24.

The National Treasury was directed to further rationalize the current budget and direct Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to commence reallocation of funds in their budgets to support the emergency response being undertaken by the State. 

The meeting approved the establishment of an ad hoc Cabinet Committee on Disaster  Response under the leadership of the Deputy President to coordinate the State response.