Jubilee planning to use drought crisis to steal from Kenyans: Mudavadi

Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi has termed as a scheme to swindle money from the public, the delay by government to address the drought in the country.

The drought has ravaged close to half of the country’s 47 counties with about 1.3 million Kenyans staring at starvation, and in some cases, death.

Mr Mudavadi on Wednesday said it was inexcusable for the government to wait until months after animals have died in different counties to release money to address their plight and buy their livestock.

He said that the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) sounded an alarm in June and there was no reason for the government to wait until when the situation became worse to act.

“Who will account on how much livestock was bought and slaughtered in these 'meat feast’ business that Jubilee has embarked on? Given the history of pilferage in drought mitigation projects, it is anyone’s guess that there is a project drought scandal in the making,” Mr Mudavadi said in a statement.

The ANC leader spoke as the government assured Kenyans that it was on top of the situation.

On Tuesday, the Treasury said it had received a Sh4.7 billion funding request from the inter-ministerial committee.

The team seeks Sh1.6 billion for food relief, Sh1.3 billion for agriculture, Sh743 million to tackle health concerns linked to hunger, Sh620 million for livestock uptake and Sh446.5 million for water in the affected areas.

A committee composed of different ministries led by Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri and his Agriculture counterpart Willy Bett on Tuesday told Parliament that the country had enough food and no Kenyan was going to starve.

But Mr Mudavadi said the government must do a lot more than assurances.

“Starving Kenyans and dying livestock under the pestilence of drought don’t eat figures of food reserves; they need immediate rations to survive. The crisis situation is stage-managed to enable pilferage,” said Mr Mudavadi.

When he appeared on a local TV station Tuesday, Mr Kiunjuri said the government will buy the dying livestock at a price to be negotiated with farmers in the affected counties.

But Mr Mudavadi said the Sh1.5 billion allocated for the buying of dying livestock was a pointer to “how plunder is being planned amidst misplaced priorities.”

Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River, Taita-Taveta, Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Isiolo, Marsabit, Makueni, Kitui, Samburu and Kajiado counties have been named hard hit with the drought.