The lives of more than five million Kenyans threatened famine are on the line following a disagreement in the Grand Coalition over disbursement of emergency intervention funds approved by Cabinet nearly four months ago.
As the ministries of Special Programmes, Livestock and Agriculture look for ways of cushioning millions of people and livestock in food-stricken regions, politics has taken centre-stage, despite the Cabinet having given the nod for the purchase of six million bags of maize under the national drought response initiative.
The intervention initiative was mooted to mitigate against the looming humanitarian crisis at the Coast, Rift Valley, Eastern, and Northern Kenya provinces, where the Drought Response National Steering Committee (DRNSC) — an inter-ministerial grouping — estimates more that five million people were in need of relief food at the beginning of this month.
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| A herder drives his livestock in search of pasture along Lodwar-Kakuma highway. Turkana districts are facing food and water shortages following a long spell of drought. Photo: Peter Ochieng/Standard |
Although the Government had last October agreed to set aside approximately Sh4 billion to mitigate against impact of La Nina –– unseasonably long drought –– weather phenomenon, Treasury and Office of the President have strongly opposed contingency plan that would have raised the strategic grain reserves from four million to six million bags.
A flurry of correspondences between line ministries that include Agriculture, Finance, Livestock Development and Ministry of Northern Kenya and the attendant stalemate in the execution of the resolutions point to the possibility that the country could be caught unprepared again if the effects of the drought.
In the context of the severe food crisis, the tussle between the dockets of Finance (held by President Kibaki’s Party of National Unity) and Agriculture (under Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement ambit) threatens the survival of pastoralists and their livestock in arid and semi-arid regions.
According to some of the correspondence in our possession, the situation deteriorated after Treasury declined to accede to the recommendations of DRNSC, which were approved by Cabinet last year.
A letter dated October 26 and addressed to Agriculture Permanent Secretary Andrew Mondoh advised Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta against countersigning a Cabinet memo on the drought and food crisis that would have hastened the release of Sh3.9 billion for emergency food purchase and a further Sh400 million to cushion livestock keepers in arid regions against the debilitating effects of la nina.
Special Programmes Minister Esther Murugi, who is charged with overseeing famine intervention initiatives, has already signed the Cabinet memo that Treasury has poured cold water on. The letter signed by Finance Secretary Mutua Kilaka, says, "It is unclear why your ministry (Agriculture) would now want this level (stocks) to be raised to six million bags at a cost of Sh3.9 billion."
Kilaka argues: "The proposal to give AFC (Agriculture Finance Corporation) a soft loan for livestock off-take is not sustainable based on the experience of similar interventions…Livestock farmers should therefore be encouraged to sell their livestock before the onset of La Nina and save the money fro restocking."
With this letter, the fate of hunger-stricken Kenyans in the north and grain farmers in rain-endowed regions still holding onto their stocks in anticipation of prices higher than the Sh1,500 budgeted for a 90-kilogramme bag of maize, was sealed.
Against this backdrop Kilaka told Mondoh: "In view of the foregoing, we do not recommend the countersigning of the Cabinet memorandum by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance."
The unflinching stance taken by Treasury is a major source of disagreement in the Cabinet, where ministers are questioning Government’s bid to source Sh4 billion for defence kitty of six suspects of 2008 post-election violence wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
At a DRNSC meeting held on October 4, last year, it was resolved the national strategic grain reserve be raised from four to six million bags in physical stocks and a cash equivalent of two million bags.
The disbursement of the funds would have also hastened the Government’s purchase of surplus maize from farmers in Rift Valley and western Kenya at profitable prices.
The ping-pong is further illustrated in a letter dated November 5 to Treasury PS Joseph Kinyua, in which Mondoh refutes allegations by Kilaka that Sh3 billion set aside in the 20110/10 for famine relief and emergency interventions had been utilised for the purpose.
In his letter Kilaka had questioned the whereabouts of the money.
"During the current financial year (2010/11) we provided a total of Sh2 billion for famine relief and another Sh1 billion for other emergency interventions. These funds have not been exhausted and therefore we do not see any justification for your ministry to request for another 1.5 billion for similar purposes," Kilaka’s letter says.
Mondoh wrote back: "However, as indicated in my earlier letter, this position (maintaining a maximum of four million bags) was varied in a meeting of DRNSC held on October 4, 2010 and chaired by the Prime Minister. This meeting resolved to raise SGR to 6 million bags this financial year (2010/11).
The DRNSC, chaired by the PM consists of the ministries of Agriculture, Livestock Development, Finance, Special Programmes, Water, Health, Internal Security, Defence and the Ministry of Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands.
The meeting the letter refers to revised the budget of SGR to Sh3.9 billion. Mondoh says even if the stocks were to be maintained at four million bags as demanded by Treasury, there would still be a shortfall requiring an additional Sh2 billion to meet the target.
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