Our prayers for rains paid off, Ruto says as El Nino ruled out

The country will after all not experience El Nino rains as predicted by the Kenya Meteorological Department, President William Ruto announced yesterday.

Experts had warned of a spell of El Nino rains starting early this month similar to what the country experienced in 1997.

However, with the month entering the third week, there are no signs of the said rains with most parts of the country experiencing dry spells.

The 1997 El Nino rainfall had a devastating impact on agriculture, water resources, transport and communications and health sectors due to its uniqueness, intensity and destructive power.

President Ruto told congregants at the Revival Sanctuary of Glory Church in Dagoretti that MET had dropped the El Nino expectations and instead predicted the normal short rains experienced during this time of the year.

“This is good for the country’s agricultural sector and farmers can now plan ahead of the planting season,” Ruto said. He said this will allow farmers to produce more to cushion the country’s food basket. “You see the department has now said there will be no El Nino, we will only have significant rains, which is even better for us to get to our farms and produce more,” he said.

Head of State said the prayers for rains he conducted at the Nyayo National Stadium in February paid off, as the country has since had prolonged rains which have allowed farmers to produce more for the country.

“Some criticised us when we prayed for rains at Nyayo Stadium. They said a whole President is praying for rain. Now see, we have more rains than we have had in four years. That is God’s doing,” Ruto said. It is not clear, however, whether Treasury had released the Sh15 billion counties had requested for mitigation purposes in the expected El Nino rains.

For instance, Nairobi city has already set aside Sh1 billion for mitigation according to Governor Johnson Sakaja.

Quick estimation

 “Counties have done a quick estimation of the resources they will be requiring to deal with this matter and out of the 23 counties, we already have an estimation of about Sh8 billion, you can imagine that by the time others come, we probably be at Sh15 billion required to fund the preparedness and response activities,” Council of Governors chair Anne Waiguru said.

El Nino and Impact Mitigation Strategic Committee had even been established under the chairmanship of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.

“Alarmingly, as counties, we only have in our emergency fund Sh1 billion. This is a drop in the ocean compared to what it is required. We are expecting a budget from counties of about Sh15 billion with El Nino required for food supplies, water storage, medical supplies, fuel reserves, evacuation among others,” Waiguru revealed. Gachagua said during a committee meeting last month that discussions have already started with the National Treasury on preparedness in terms of resources from the contingency fund, even as he urged the ministry to establish ways to unlock resources from the World Bank and other partners to mitigate negative impact of the rains.

The DP had in September told a stakeholders’ meeting that they had set aside about Sh10 billion to manage the effects of El Nino, especially in ASAL areas. Gachagua urged Kenyans living in flood-prone areas to move to higher grounds ahead of the expected El Nino rains to mitigate a tragedy.

He also urged farmers, especially those with grains, to harvest and store their produce early and where possible sell to willing buyers to minimise post-harvest losses.

“It is important for us Kenyans to take measures to reduce the negative impact of these rains and that is why we are appealing to those living in low-lying flood-prone areas to move to higher grounds,” said Gachagua.

Kenyans were also requested to be proactive in reporting emergencies through the channels that the Government will publicise.

With the expansion of towns, he said, some draining systems have not been equally matched as required and as a matter of urgency, counties should prepare artificial water ways including service run-off and risk of flooding, especially in residential areas.

“El Nino is beyond counties, national governments, and development partners hence the need to work together by leveraging diverse capacities in technical and financial resources,” he said. Yesterday, President Ruto also vowed to ensure that his government puts in more resources and effort in agriculture and food production, to ensure that the country’s food security is guaranteed.

He also took a jibe at the Opposition who early this year led its supporters in street protests over high cost of living.

“That is why I keep saying maandamano won’t put food on the table. If people have to demonstrate, then let them demonstrate in the farms to produce more food,” Ruto added.