Kibaki Tours Mandera, Spells Out His Plans

By Patrick Mathangani and Adow Jubat

Nairobi, Dec.28, 2005 (Standard Online) – President Kibaki toured famine-ravaged Mandera and Wajir Districts on Tuesday and saw for himself the misery and desolation wrought by the latest famine wave to hit Kenya.

Ibrahim Kula, 13, recuperates at the Mandera District Hospital . He is being treated for malnutrition and Tuberculosis.

The President and the First Lady, Lucy, broke off from their traditional end year holiday in Mombassa and flew to the remote corner of Kenya where at least 27 people have starved to death. A shocked President saw emaciated children, men and women.

And when he spoke he had a lot to give the victims, including waiving school fees in drought-ravaged northern Kenya and flagging off trucks filled with foodstuffs at Wajir’s Baraza Park for distribution in remote areas of the province, where it is believed there have been more human and animal deaths.

Speaking in Mandera, the Head of State ordered the Ministry of Education and provincial administration to ensure that no child was locked out of school due to non-payment of fees when schools reopen next month.

The President said sufficient foodstuffs would be distributed to the 17 famine-hit districts in the country for as long as the situation would demand. He also vowed no one would be allowed to succumb to hunger.

The President had left Mombassa aboard a military Buffalo plane at 8 am and returned shortly after dusk.

Facilitate accessibility

He said the Government would spend Sh300 million to purchase weak livestock and slaughter them to supplement the dietary needs of the hard-hit communities.

All Government officials on leave or off duty would be recalled to provide highly needed services to combat preventable deaths and diseases, he added. He further ordered the immediate re-opening of the Somalia-Kenya border to facilitate accessibility to cheap foodstuffs from the neighboring country’s border towns.

"It is cheap to buy foodstuffs from the adjacent Somali border towns such as Bulahawa, which is less than two kilometers from Mandera Town instead of purchasing the same from Nairobi , which is over 1200 kilometers away."

"Ni upumbavu kuleta chakula kutoka Nairobi na iko karibu,'' he said. (It is foolish to ferry food from Nairobi when there is cheaper food to purchase nearby).

The President landed in the dusty and barren region dotted by skeletons of dead livestock with nine ministers in tow. They were Mahammud Abdi Mohammed (Regional Development), Joseph Munyao (Livestock), John Michuki (Internal Security), John Munyes (Special Programmes), Morris Dzoro (Tourism), Mutahi Kagwe (Information), Mutua Katuku (Water) and Njenga Karume (Defense).

There were also several Assistant ministers and Members of Parliament as well as senior Government officials.

The President ordered the North Eastern Provincial Commissioner, Aggrey Mudinyu, and the local District Commissioner, Kimani Waweru, to immediately initiate bilateral talks with the Somali authorities to facilitate the resumption of cross-border trade, which had dwindled due to a recent government ban.

Mobilize all resources

He, however, warned the locals against abusing the Government’s positive gesture to start smuggling illegal foods and firearms through the re-opened border.

"Hawa ni ndugu zenu na mnajuana na nimuhimu kufanya biashara isio na upumbavu. Na hakuna mtu anaweza kukataza ninyi biashara ya halali." (Those are your brothers and sisters, you know each other well, it is important that you do not turn to illegal business)

Responding to an appeal by local leaders, he said it would be the responsibility of his government to avail funds from the Treasury to cushion parents from the burden of raising school fees, which may lead to mass dropout of pastoralist children.

He warned parents against using the drought as an excuse to remove their children from school to look after livestock, saying his government would not tolerate the increasing dropout of children from schools in the region.

"As Government we have decided to mobilize all resources at our disposal to ensure Kenyans will not suffer as a result of the famine,’’ the President said.

In Wajir, he said the Government had provided modern equipment for drilling boreholes to ensure the water problem was effectively addressed.

President Kibaki has already sent out an international appeal for food aid to the tune of Sh8.5 billion. He said the Government could only raise Sh2 billion.

However, he said the Government would free more resources to address the problem, which has already been reported in parts of Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley and Western Provinces .

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