President William Ruto will Tuesday morning chair a Cabinet meeting to discuss additional measures on floods mitigation.
Speaking on the sidelines of International Development Association (IDA21) summit at KICC in Nairobi, Ruto said the meeting will deliberate on ways of ensuring victims of the floods are taken care of by the government.
He said the government has robust plans in place to conatin the situation which he acknowledged had also affected other countries.
“While we had a drought a year ago, today we have floods. A year ago, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique were having floods, today they are having a drought. It is the new normal of our situation and we have to continuously work at it,” he said.
The Head of State noted that the government is prepared to lessen the pain occassioned by the dire situation Kenyans find themselves in.
“We have food supplies in place. We want to support those who have been displaced, the floods have displaced 10,000 people in Nairobi,” he noted.
He said Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is spearheading government response measures in collaboration with aid agencies.
“We will make sure those affected by mudslides and the floods are taken care of,” he added.
So far, Kenya has lost over 100 people due to flooding across the country, Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said on Monday.
Speaking in Mombasa, Mwaura said the number of casualties could likely be higher following sporadic drowning incidents across the country.
He said death toll stood at 103 Monday morning exclusive of at least 45 people who died in the Mai Mahiu tragedy.
In Nairobi, the government has identified three locations where city residents cut off from their homes will be provided with alternative shelter.
Head of Public Service Felix Koskei said displaced residents will be accommodated at the National Youth Service (NYS) headquarters, Kamiti and Kasarani.
“Treatment is mainly at Mathare Hospital,” Koskei said in a press release.
He noted that Principal Secretary for State Department of Correctional Services Salome Muhia and her counterparts Harry Kimutai (Medical Services) and Mary Muriuki (Public Health) have visited the three sites.
Koskei said technical teams from the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and the military accompanied the PSs for evaluation of the sites.
He said Lands PS Nixon Korir and other five PSs accompanied the technical team to the site for factual and guided activation of response.
