The National Steering Committee on drought response announced that they have received over Sh592 million since the creation of the drought mitigation appeal fund last week.
The committee briefed President William Ruto at State House, Friday, December 2, 2022, where they provided an update on the progress they have made as they unveiled the ‘Wakenya Tulindane’ campaign.
“We have adopted the name Wakenya Tulindane which we believe symbolises the essence of the campaign; to safeguard our people and our country from the effects of drought through both short-term and long-term measures”, said Peter Ndegwa, Chairman of, the National Steering Committee on Drought Response.
Among the institutions that have donated include Co-operative Bank which has contributed Sh150 million, Kenya Defense Forces (Sh130 million), Equity Bank (Sh120 million) and KCB (Sh100 million).
Other corporates that have boosted the kitty are Safaricom with a Sh50 million donation and Diamond Trust Bank (Sh20 million).
Kenya China Economic and Trade Association and Dawoodi Bohri Community donated Sh10 million each while Middle East Bank gave Sh2 million.
All Cabinet Secretaries will contribute one month’s salary towards the fund while the committee members have agreed to donate their allowances and to seek partnerships with various service providers at no cost.
“Our immediate next step is to use the money received so far to purchase and distribute relief food as well as facilitate cash transfers. We look forward to the task ahead as we support our brothers and sisters impacted by drought and we appeal to Kenyans to donate any amount they can towards the appeal fund”, added Ndegwa.
Five sub-committees have also been formed to ensure transparent collection and disbursement of funds and to develop long-term sustainable solutions against the perennial effects of drought.
The sub-committees include Finance and Governance, Communications and Awareness, Resource Mobilization, Procurement, Logistics and Operations and Sustainability.
The sustainability team has been tasked with driving the medium-term to long-term solutions to tackle climate change effects on the country.
Those wishing to donate to the appeal fund can do so via M-PESA PayBill 880990 using their name as the account number or via the National Drought Mitigation Appeal Fund under KCB Bank, Riverside branch through account number 1305486137.
The PayBill will also be available to Airtel Money and Telkom’s T-Kash subscribers.
The committee also agreed to look at alternative ways to address the current emergency situation with the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) stating that it costs up to Sh6,000 to feed a family for one month.
Ruto announced the formation of a committee to lead the efforts to mitigate the impact of the drought situation in the country.
According to NDMA, the drought situation continues to deteriorate in twenty-one (21) of the 23 ASAL counties.
This is attributed to the four failed consecutive seasons and the late-onset and poorly distributed 2022 short rains season. The number of people in need of food assistance currently stands at 4.35 million currently.
Up to 14 counties which include Laikipia, Marsabit, Garissa, Isiolo, Kilifi, Kwale, Samburu, Tana River, Tharaka Nithi, Turkana, Wajir, Kitui, Kajiado and Mandera are classified under Alarm drought phase, seven counties including Embu, Narok, Taita Taveta, Makueni, Meru, Nyeri and Lamu are in the Alert drought phase.
The remaining two counties including Baringo and West Pokot are in the Normal drought phase.
Acute malnutrition has also been noted across the counties with 942,000 cases of children aged six to 59 months acutely malnourished and 134,000 cases of pregnant or lactating women acutely malnourished and in need of treatment.
