President William Ruto chaired an emergency session of the Cabinet yesterday to assess the extreme weather conditions in the country.
The Meteorological Department has classified the current above-normal short rains as the El-Nino phenomenon.
In response,the Cabinet expressed condolences to the affected families and individuals.
Cabinet approved various policy and administrative measures to bolster the ongoing efforts.
During the assessment, it was revealed that 38 out of the 47 counties in the country are currently in the Alarm Stage.
“This stage is characterized by flash floods, general flooding ,”read the statement.
However,the government has disbursed Sh 500 million to the New KCC to purchase excess milk during this rainy season.
Additionally, the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) will airlift medical supplies worth Sh180 million to Wajir County.
The Garissa Airstrip has also been repaired, and commercial flights resume today.
Ongoing repairs are expected to be completed by today,
“Works in progress include Tula and Arer on the Thika-Garissa Road, as well as the Moyale-Rhamu Road in Mandera,”said in a statement read by Government spoke person Hussein Mohamed.
To strengthen the national response, the Cabinet has put in place additional interventions.
These include scaling up humanitarian assistance to reach over 50,000 households in arid and semi-arid counties.
It has also disburse Sh 10 billion of shareable revenue to County Governments.
It has directed the National Treasury to release an additional Sh 10 billion to County Governments this week.
The Cabinet has also directed the enhanced deployment of the KDF and public civilian aircraft to transport support materials.
A proposal will 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 will further rationalize the current budget and instruct Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to reallocate funds to support the emergency response.
There will also be a scaling up of the rapid response to rehabilitate damaged road networks and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Morever,150,000 mosquito nets will be distributed to the affected counties.
