Tharaka-Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki has called on the national government to set aside enough money for fighting hunger and postpone the 2020 General Election should drought persist.
Governor Njuki said the government should postpone the 2022 General Election and use the money set aside for the exercise to buy relief food for suffering Kenyans.
He spoke on Thursday after disbursing Sh23 million to 18 self-help groups through the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture project (KCSAP) at Nairobi Ndogo market in Chuka/Igambang’ombe constituency.
Mr Njuki said that although President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the ongoing drought a national disaster early in the year, very little had been done to ensure that those seriously affected by drought receive relief food and water.
“Top on the priority list in our government should be fighting hunger that is tormenting millions of Kenyans and not elections and other secondary needs,” said Mr Njuki.
The county chief said politicians cannot continue with campaigns while Kenyans are suffering and livestock dying.
He said the Ministry of Devolution in collaboration with the Council of Governors, should come up with an elaborate programme to give relief food to the needy.
The county boss said his government will allocate funds for procuring relief food for the thousands of people, especially in the semi-arid parts of the county.
He said it was unfortunate that his county is not among the areas that have been earmarked for provision of relief food despite the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) indicating that thousands of the residents are starving.
He said the last time rainfall was experienced in the parts of Tharaka and Igambang’ombe was in March and residents harvested very little food.
“We are foreseeing a very severe situation because our county is yet to receive rainfall,” he said. BY DAILY NATION