President William Ruto has broken his silence following heavy rains that have continued to pound various parts of the country leading to floods which in turn have led to fatalities, displaced more than 20,000 households and caused traffic disruptions.
Ruto in a statement on April 24, 2024, announced that he made a directive to select Ministries to immediately respond to the flooding situation following a meeting,
“This morning, I engaged leaders in counties and regions affected by the ongoing heavy rains. Consequently, I directed the ministries of Interior and EAC, Arid and Semi-Arid Lands and Regional Development, and the National Youth Service to immediately respond to the situation caused by the floods,” read part of the statement.
Ruto directive
According to the Head of State, the named agencies will immediately step-up multi-agency response efforts
The statement by the head of state comes at a time when floods resulting from heavy rains have resulted to massive destructions and even loss of life.
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According to Kenya Red Cross, the death toll resulting from floods across the country had risen to over 48 as of Wednesday, April 24, with Nairobi recording the highest number of casualties.
The Kenya Red Cross Head of Disaster Operations, Venant Ndhigila said that the deaths recorded were a result of Kenyans disregarding warning issues by the organization.
He explained that Kenyans disregarded the humanitarian organization’s efforts of taking caution after it had issued warning on several occasions against walking or driving in flooded areas.
Raila issues statement on floods
Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga had on April 24 issued a statement on the flooding situation witnessed in the country and particularly in Nairobi County.
Odinga made the statement after holding a consultative meeting with the political leadership of Nairobi including members of the National Assembly and Senator Edwin Sifuna.
The opposition chief warned that the country is in the cusps of a national flooding disaster, especially within the Nairobi City County.
According to him, the meeting was aimed at getting a clear picture shining sharp focus on the suffering of residents, as well as mobilizing urgent support for mitigation measures.
“Relentless rains currently pounding the nation have caused severe damage, including loss of lives, destruction to infrastructure and overwhelmed the city’s poorly managed drainage systems.
We hasten to add that all such mitigation measures are emergency ones, but the conversation must later move to long term actions to safeguard the lives and property of city residents,” read part of the statement.
The opposition further called upon the national and county governments to lead from the front in rescue and support missions while also appealing to local and international partners to join in the rescue operations.
Also Read: Sorrow as Floods Kill Activist Who Lost Two Sons in Post-Election Violence
Odinga raised concern over Nairobi County being overwhelmed, stating that he feared residents in rural Kenya could be in for worse times should the rains continue as expected.
“We therefore call on our County governments to learn from Nairobi’s helplessness and do better for our people,” said Raila.
Demands
The coalition while highlighting that existing emergency systems are overwhelmed and will not cope, issued demands to the government to ensure that no more disaster unfolds.
Odinga made an appeal to President Ruto and the government to declare the floods a national disaster and immediately activate all emergency mechanisms, including military disaster response teams.
Additionally, the coalition demanded for the Red Cross to launch an emergency disaster support kitty to assist families affected by the flooding, for urgent distribution on case-by-case basis.
“As we speak the Azimio MPs assembled here have already put together the sum of Kenya Shillings One million as a start which shall be given to the Red Cross in Nairobi for distribution to the affected people,” the statement revealed.
On the other hand, the County and National Governments were urged to unveil a robust information gathering and sharing system to enable people report and avoid disasters as they unfold.
The coalition further appealed to the government and other disaster response agencies to launch thorough search and rescue efforts in all affected areas, and provide food rations, blankets and medication to affected residents.
It is important to note that the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) in its forecast predicted that the rains will be continuing on Wednesday night and in the coming days.
According to KMD, Kenyans living within the Nairobi metropolis should anticipate moderate to heavy, possibly very heavy rainfall across multiple areas especially for Wednesday, April 24.
Other regions expected to experience heavy rains include South-eastern lowlands, the Rift Valley, Coast, North-western, and North-eastern Kenya.
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