Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party presidential candidate Raila Odinga has strongly criticized President William Ruto over what he described as a ‘lackluster response’ in its handling of the worsening drought situation in the country.
In a statement, the former Prime Minister claimed that the Head of State is instead preoccupied with his 2027 re-election bid.
“An emergency response is evidently missing but instead, the government is consumed by politics of survival and the elections of 2027,” Raila said on Tuesday, October 25.
Raila, who is out of the country further censured the Kenya Kwanza government over the rising cost of basic commodities including fuel claiming that some individuals in the government are raising money through unscrupulous means to pay back foreign powers who supported President William Ruto’s State House bid.
“They will be making a killing to pay back their foreign backers and align with those corporations for the future,
“In this scheme, the worse the pain, the bigger the gain for the shylocks in government,” Raila stated.
Official figures reveal that more than 4.35 million Kenyans are facing acute food insecurity, with about 2.7 million people in the crisis phase and 785,000 in the emergency state.
For instance, Laikipia, Tana River, Tharaka Nithi, Isiolo, Mandera, Garissa, Turkana, Wajir, Samburu, and Marsabit counties are now in the alarm phase.
On the other hand, Embu, Kitui, Makueni, Meru, Narok, Nyeri, Taita Taveta, Kwale, and Kilifi are in the alert phase, while Baringo, West Pokot, and Lamu are in the normal drought phase.
“This situation requires a massive emergency response program to ensure rapid delivery of food, water, and medicine to the millions of people not just in arid and semi-arid areas but in virtually all corners of the country, who are affected by the prolonged drought,” Raila said.
