Garissa leaders demand release of El Niño relief food as drought ravages pastoralists

Garissa Woman Representative Udgoon Siyad flanked by other leaders, flags off the relief food consignment in Nunow. /STEPHEN ASTARIKO

Leaders in Garissa have called on the national government to immediately release and distribute relief food stockpiled in anticipation of the forecast El Niño rains.

They say the supplies are urgently needed to support thousands of residents facing worsening drought conditions.

The leaders, led by Garissa Woman Representative Udgoon Siyad and Sankuri MCA Abdirahman Borr, said there was no longer any justification for keeping food reserves intended for anticipated weather emergencies in storage while vulnerable households faced hunger, water shortages and livestock losses.

They spoke in Nunow during the flagging-off of food and non-food items for 28 drought-stricken villages across the county.

The Woman Representative argued that the government should urgently review its initial emergency response plans and redirect the food reserves towards addressing the current drought crisis rather than allowing the supplies to remain unused.

"It does not make sense to continue keeping food that was meant for the people in the event of El Niño. The weather situation has changed, and we are now talking about drought. Let this food be distributed to the residents who desperately need it," Udgoon said.

She appealed to the Principal Secretary for Special Programmes to issue an immediate directive authorising the release of the food. She warned that many households in the county were already experiencing severe hardship.

"As we speak, our people are suffering because of the drought. My appeal to the PS for Special Programmes is to give a directive that will ensure this food reaches the people who are suffering. We cannot afford to wait until the situation gets worse," she said.

Udgoon noted that conditions had become particularly difficult for vulnerable households after many pastoralists were forced to migrate with their livestock to neighbouring counties and even across the border into Somalia in search of pasture and water.

"The people remaining in these villages are largely women, children and the elderly. Some of the mothers are expectant, and these are the people who urgently need our support. We must not forget them simply because many livestock owners have moved away in search of pasture and water," she said.

Udgoon urged both levels of government, the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), the Kenya Red Cross Society and other humanitarian organisations to coordinate their interventions to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.