More than two million Kenyans are at risk of hunger due to prolonged droughts. Sadly, none of Kenyan politicians seems to realise that such an emergency requires more attention than voter registration.
A message doing rounds on social media sums it all up thus:
It’s only in Kenya where…
Hospitals are closed
Taps are dry,
Hunger is killing people,
Lecturers are on strike
But voter registration is an emergency
Right to be free from hunger
Food shortage has resulted in deaths, and this is against our Constitution. Article 43 of the Constitution – economic, social and cultural rights – states that every person has the right to be free from hunger, have adequate food of acceptable quality, and access to clean and safe water in adequate quantities.
Unfortunately, this seems to be just another clause that has no significance beyond filling up pages in the Constitution. The country experiences perennial hunger and drought as a result of poor planning, low interest in agriculture among Kenyan youths, lawless encroachment on forests, poor state of research and technology in agriculture as well as meagre budgetary allocations towards agriculture by the government.
On 23 January 2017, Kenya’s Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett gave an estimate of two million Kenyans expected to face hunger by July 2017, up from the current 1.5 million. As Devolution CS Mwangi Kiunjuri had indicated, the drought is worsening day after day.
Malnutrition
Baringo, Isiolo, Mandera, Marsabit, Meru, Samburu, Turkana and Wajir counties have reported malnutrition rates above 15 per cent, according to the National Drought Management Authority. Meru has the highest rate at 28 per cent and Mandera 26.3.
There has been improvement in Embu, Garissa, Baringo and Samburu counties which experienced some of the highest rates of malnutrition in previous month – at 52, 32, 25 and 23 per cent respectively.
Elections mood sets in
Majority of government agencies tasked with addressing such crises have switched their attention to politics. A number of ministers and top civil servants are resigning for electoral politics. Unfortunately, there is no mechanism for replacement professionally, given that leaders at the central and county governments are also in a panicky mood. The main focus now is crusading for voter registration in their respective home areas, at most driven by tribal sentimentality. There is no much focus on government administration. The systems that oversee organization and management of government have entered a laxity mood as elections campaigns and vote hunting heightens. As all these take place, the Northern corridor of Kenya – which includes semi-arid areas of Baringo, Turkana, North-Eastern, Wajir and Moyale – are facing stark foodlessness. Areas such as Baringo, Turkana and Pokot are experiencing cattle rustling.
Government’s moral duty
While it is agreeable that politics is an integral part of a people’s life, the government should not look away and abandon its moral duty. People are dying of hunger due to lack of food and drought. It is time the government lays down a firm administrative foundation that takes care of its business, whether it is an election year or not.
Additional reporting by ALEXANDER OPICHO
