Nairobi — President William Ruto's administration has lauded the Wajir county government in its efforts to mitigate drought whose resultant effects has claimed thousands of livestock and loss of livelihoods.
In February, Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi had urged President Ruto to declare the continuing drought a national disaster to enable the government mobilize resources to assist the affected population.
On Thursday, the head of state celebrated Governor Abdullahi's efforts in mitigating drought leading to saving of lives and livelihoods.
Michael Ololtuaa, Administrative Officer at Office of the President said while the national government has been distributing relief food to all parts of Wajir County, the devolved unit has done a great job alleviate poverty amid the biting drought.
"What the county government of Wajir is doing is a great job. They have been spending so much to alleviate poverty in Wajir by distributing relief to the people who are in need," said Ololtuaa.
"Right now we have got rains, but it's not enough. The food is not yet enough. But what the county government is doing, they are doing a lot and we really appreciate and I believe the office of the president notes what goes on in the county government, what the governor of Wajir of is doing to help alleviate poverty in Wajir," he added.
Ololtuaa was speaking on Thursday while launching the third phase of iftar programme targeting 25,000 families which is an initiative of the Wajir county government.
He called on Assistant County Commissioners, chiefs and their assistants to work closely with the county government officials to ensure fair distribution of the relief food during this holy month of Ramadhan.
"We are calling upon our officers on the ground to partner with officials from the County Government such that everyone can be reached," he said, adding that priority should be given to the underprivileged families.
"A chief has the mandate to cooperate with officials from the County Government, we do not want to hear about any chief who is not cooperating, please that's our order to our officers who're on the ground," he added.
On his part, National Drought Management Authority (NMDA) Halakhe commended Governor Ahmed Abdullahi's administration saying national government in partnership with the county government has distributed relief food to majority of schools and to the general public as well.
Due to the floods, the county government together with other partners, he said, is working on an interim report which has been sent to the national government and includes the repairs of some broken roads.
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As part of the efforts to mitigate effects of drought, the county government has procured animal feeds which included 22,000 bags of high fibre range cubes, 4,000 jerricans of molasses and 2,000 Metric tonnes of Urea-molasses-mineral block (UMMB) feed supplement for the animals.
The County has further handed over 5,260 bags of livestock supplementary feed (Range Cubes) targeting 2,630 households courtesy of the Emergency Locust Response Programme (ELRP) which supported at least 11,000 vulnerable households.
This was followed by the placement of over 7,000 herder's livestock under livestock insurance.
To save the livestock following the spread of livestock diseases, the County distributed 100,000 doses of Anthrax vaccine to cover livestock at Wajir East, Wajir South and some parts of Tarbaj.
The County Government of Wajir has also flagged off Emergency relief food in three phases.
Phase one of County Emergency Food distribution was undertaken in November 2022, where the County distributed 25,000 bags of rice each weighing 25kgs, Over 4,167 cartons of vegetable cooking weighing 18kgs each and 5000 bags of beans each weighing 50 kgs.
Phase two of relief food distribution saw the County distribute 42,000 bags of sifted maize meal each weighing 24kgs, and over 7,000 cartons of vegetable cooking oil.
During phase three of the County food distribution, which fell in the Islamic month of Ramadhan, Wajir County on Thursday flagged off Ramadhan foodstuff which included assorted food items such as 125 metric tonnes of dates, 200 metric tonnes of rice, 200 metric tonnes of nutritional porridge and 12 metric tonnes of cooking oil targeted at 25,000 households across the county during Ramadhan.
