3 People have so far lost their lives in Mwingi Central, Kitui county as hunger caused by the ongoing drought intensifies.
Speaking over the weekend at Waita ward, Mwingi central MP Gideon Mulyungi termed the situation as dire asking the government to fast-track the distribution of relief food.
“The situation in my constituency is critical. I have lost 3 people due to hunger. One of them is a class 8 student at Levuni primary, the other is an aged lady at Ivuusya/Nguutani and the last one was from Yambiu. This cannot continue to happen. Government must intervene.” Mulyungi while addressing the media said.
The legislator further thanked President Ruto for beginning to take action on the ongoing hunger crisis in the country. Last week, President William Ruto flagged trucks with relief food to the 23 affected counties.
“I want to thank President for taking measures and promising to fight water shortage and hunger in the country. Those are the main problems in our region. Ensure that during your term water goes everywhere and food is distributed.” He went on.
According to the National Drought Management Authority(NDMA), drought continued to worsen in 20 of the 23 ASAL counties with three more counties sliding into the alarm phase of drought. The counties of Laikipia, Tana River, and Tharaka Nithi slid into alarm joining Isiolo, Mandera, Garissa, Turkana, Wajir, Samburu, and Marsabit that have equally been hard hit in the past months.
Another 10 counties including Embu, Garissa, Kitui, Makueni, Meru, Narok, Nyeri, Taita Taveta, Kwale, and Kilifi are in the Alert drought phase. The remaining 3 counties including Baringo, West Pokot, and Lamu are in the Normal drought phase.
The worsening household food security situation has also resulted in acute malnutrition rates across the counties with 942,000 children aged 6-59 months acutely malnourished and 134,000 cases of pregnant or lactating women acutely malnourished and in need of treatment.
