Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Fides Service)- “We appreciate the government’s decision to declare a national state of emergency” said Bishop Cornelius Kipng’eno Arap Korir, Catholic Bishop of Eldoret and President of the Bishops' Kenya, following President Mwai Kibaki’s decision to declare a state of emergency in the regions of the north east suffering from a serious food shortage.
However the Bishop said the January 1 decision came too late when already 40 people had died of hunger or diseases connected with malnutrition and he advised the government to “collect maize in regions where there is a surplus and give it to regions where it is insufficient”. In fact the government has decided to purchase all available maize in the country to deal with the present emergency “and to face the difficulties in the coming months”. Besides this programme to purchase maize which will cost around 150 million dollars, measures must be taken to guarantee clean water for the people and for the animals, and to replenish forage stores and supply farmers with seeds for the next sowing season.
The local Catholic Church has appealed for solidarity from all sides and organised centres for collecting aid to send to areas in difficulty.
A statement issued by President Kibaki affirms “the impact of drought is very serious and could affect millions of Kenyans all over the country”. The government says that until the end of February famine could affect 2.5 million people in the north east and in coastal regions.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO says the drought which is affecting not only Kenya but also other regions of east Africa and the Horn of Africa puts at least 11 million people at risk. FAO has made an urgent appeal for food aid. The UN World Food Programme says that 64,000 tons of food aid are needed until June 2006, compared with the 16,700 tons available. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 9/1/2006 righe 29 parole 367)
