A show of patriotism continues to take centre stage with Kenyans from all walks of life coming forward to help the hungry.

The money is part of a noble initiative dubbed ‘Kenyans for Kenya’, created by the Kenya Red Cross Society and supported by the Kenya Commercial Bank, Safaricom (leading mobile subscriber) Foundation and the Media Owners Association.

In solidarity, some people have fasted while others walk to work in a bid to contribute money to the needy. Local musicians have launched a new song kilio (cry), to raise awareness of the plight of Kenyans going hungry. In two consecutive weekends, Kenyans joined the Red Cross in flagging off 150,000 metric tones of food to the draught-stricken parts of the country. Some came on foot, some by buses while others were chauffeured in flashy cars to unite with their starving brothers and sisters.

The initiative, started a fortnight ago had targeted to raise half a billion ($5.2m) in a month. And by press time, donations had surpassed the Sh500, 000,000 mark. It has been a flurry of activities for the corporate sector with company after company showing its worth by donating to the kitty. A recent fundraiser organized by the Red Cross saw companies raising more than sh300 million in cash and pledges and a further sh53.4 million in kind. The figure complements ordinary citizens’ donations of sh135 m. This gesture goes a long way to show that Kenyans can indeed solve problems on their own. The country is gradually shifting from donor reliance as people realize that time is of the essence here.

Uniting for common cause

Interestingly, the corporate institutions have pushed their day to day competition and rivalry to the back burner as they come together for a common cause. Rival media companies, musicians are now seen rubbing shoulders, in solidarity to save the hungry.

Billed as the biggest fundraiser in the history of the country, the noble initiative comes at the backdrop of a severe draught facing more than 3.5 million Kenyans in northern Kenya, the region’s worst drought in six decades, according to UN estimates. The region has suffered immensely in terms of water scarcity and food insecurity and the onus falls upon the government to institute long term measures to end this problem which appears - as the current scenario suggests – remain unabated.

Residents of these areas are mainly pastoralists but with the current situation, even their economic mainstay - cows, goats and camels is at risk. Local and international media has been awash with gruesome tales of famine. We have been treated to pictures of women and children walking for tens of kilometers in search of food and water with some dying on the way. Here, men who instead of standing with pride and dignity are kneeling in desperation. Even the resilient camels, known to go for days without water, are in their death beds. In essence the entire Northern region is at the brink of extinction but Kenyans have vowed not to let this happen.


Animals are unable to stand the drought

Where is the government in all this? Not surprising, the government has been caught pants down with this scenario. Even with the strong warnings from the weatherman late last year, the government, as is the norm, is rushing at the eleventh hour to supply relief food. This is food that will run out in a few months because mouths are many and needy. Year in year out, the government waits for this to happen and then rushes to supply dry maize to people who are in urgent need of more nutritious meals.

A cup of dry maize to a person who has not tasted a proper meal in weeks is a slap on the face. To add salt to injury, our leaders continue to deny the draught existence in northern Kenya. Recently, government spokesman, Dr Alfred Mutua, infuriated Kenyans when he blatantly denied that not a single person had died of starvation in Turkana, a region worst hit by the current drought. Even when glaring photos are thrust in his face, he chose to refute claims of a looming famine. It is no wonder that the Kenyans for Kenya initiative is a corporate and ordinary citizen affair; no government official has been involved and those donating to the kitty are doing so to save face. Aid agencies continue to raise the red flag, with Oxfam, a UK based agency chastising African governments for dithering over pledges of donations and immediate response to the food crisis.

“What African governments have offered is ‘woefully short and inadequate’ considering this is a defining moment for the continents ability to help itself,” says Houghton Irungu of Oxfam.

The Kenyans for Kenya initiative demonstrates yet again that that ordinary citizens, despite their cultural and political distinctions, are people who can marshal their often limited resources to rescue fellow Kenyans in need. Every common Kenyan has been touched and to show solidarity, even those with meager salaries are sending as little as sh10 ($0.1) to the hunger kitty. The Safaricom mobile money transfer M-PESA has come in handy to aid people in contributing to the initiative.

Ray of hope



The Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General, Abbas Gullet, who is the brainchild of the Kenyans for Kenya initiative is optimistic that the situation will change for the better. We are no longer on the verge of a humanitarian disaster; we are in the middle of it now. It is happening and we need to act fast, is his clarion call. He notes that the recent distribution of 150MT of Unimix (a blend of maize, beans and sugar), which is highly nutritious, would feed some 21,000 people for the next six months. It will particularly save new born children, lactating mothers and the elderly from premature deaths.

He appeals to Kenyans to maintain the culture of giving but at the same times urges the government to come up with long term solutions to the drought problem.

Forty-seven years after independence, little has been done to help reduce this problem which whenever it surfaces, it comes with devastating consequences. It can be argued that the climatic conditions of the area are the main driving cause for this problem but while this could be a factor, with proper planning and mitigation measures the problem can be lessened and the deaths resulting from starvation and massive depletion of livestock could be saved.

Construction of additional dams and water pans, sinking of boreholes harnessing the river through irrigation would have gone a long way to save many residents from the devastating effects of the drought.