from ouko joachim omolo
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 2011
Agenzia Fides reports that the Bishops of Kenya launch an emergency fund to help people affected by drought-“We are all deeply concerned about the crisis caused by drought and suffering of so many Kenyans.
Our concern is for the millions of vulnerable people who risk dying of hunger and for the many communities that have lost their livelihoods “, the Bishops of Kenya say in a statement and launch a national fund-raising for the people affected by drought that has raged in several East-African Countries.
If the most dramatic situation is in Somalia, Kenya also heavily suffers the food crisis, not only because it hosts on its territory hundreds of thousands of Somalis escaping from their Country, but also because the drought has affected several areas of its territory.
The message of the Episcopal Conference of Kenya states that the most vulnerable people are: the shepherds of the north, north-east, north-west and south, and the poorest families living on subsistence farming in the coastal plains and south-eastern regions.
The drought, caused by very little rain in 2010 and, this year has caused, the Bishops recall, “food shortages, sharp rise in food prices, lack of water, migration and conflict, malnutrition, school dropout on behalf of children and loss of livestock”.
The Episcopal Conference of Kenya has decided to launch an emergency fund (Catholic Charity Emergency Fund) and has launched a fund-raising in favor of this initiative. Food collections in parishes, diocesan offices and other structures of the Church have been organized. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 04/08/2011)
The Episcopal Conference of Kenya ‘s move comes three days after Pope Benedict XVI called for an “international mobilization” to help the victims of a severe drought in Eastern Africa, which has been hit by drought and is now threatened by a famine that could endanger the life of more than 11.8 million people.
Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are the countries the most hit by the drought. Speaking from his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, Italy, the pope invited the faithful “to think of the many brothers and sisters who in these days, in the Horn of Africa, are suffering the dramatic consequences of famine, aggravated by war and the absence of solid institutions.”
In Kenya the famine is biting harder when the Kenyan shilling fell to a record low of 92.10 against the dollar on Thursday, weighed down by demand for the US currency from oil importers according to traders.
At 0624 GMT, commercial bank quoted the shilling at 92.00/20 against the dollar, weaker than Wednesday’s close of 91.65/75. “We have seen heavy demand this week. Telecoms were in and we also saw oil guys buying dollars,” Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading at Commercial Bank of Africa was quoted to have said. “Still the shilling is on the back foot. We don’t see any factors supporting it.”
In northern Kenya according to Fatuma Ahmed, some people go as far selling their daughters at a tender age so they can get food. Prolonged drought in northern Kenya has pushed many families, like widow Ahmed and her seven children, towards the outskirts of towns where they are more likely to get food and water, thanks to the generosity of Kenyans who have so far donated over 100 million Kenya shillings.
Dubbed Kenyans for Kenya, it is intended to raise over Sh500 million, in four weeks. The initiative has brought together a number of organizations among them Safaricom Foundation, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Foundation and the country’s leading media houses operating under the umbrella of the Media Owners Association (MOA). The effort will be administered by relief agency Kenya Red Cross Society.
The KCB Group CEO Dr. Martin Oduor – Otieno was quoted to have said that KCB is ready to support initiatives that would help to alleviate famine in the country. “KCB through the KCB Foundation is delighted to be part of this noble initiative bringing together the Kenya Red Cross Society, corporate organizations and the media in support of Kenyans hard hit by famine. In addition, we are also mobilizing our 5,000 staff to make individual contributions,” said Dr Oduor-Otieno.
Also key to the campaign is the use of M-PESA, Safaricom’s money transfer service to receive donations. This will ensure that even the smallest donation (as low as Sh10) is harnessed, as this will go a long way in improving the situation of millions of Kenyans currently staring starvation and death in the eye.
Donations can be sent to the M-PESA PayBill number 111111 at no charge as this has been waived. Donations can also be sent to account number 11 33 33 33 38 at KCB. Kenya Red Cross Society cash tins will also be available in 169 KCB branches countrywide for receiving donations.
The famine crisis in Kenya has already received unprecedented media coverage especially from the international media due to the influx of refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps. The corporate appeal comes at a time when the United Nations (UN) has also called an emergency meeting in Rome to mobilise aid so save starving Kenyans from hunger.
According to Ahmed young girls are being sold for as little as 15,000 Kenyan shillings ($168) “If he’s wealthy, it can go up to 50,000 ($559),” “A mother will take a 14-year-old girl out of school and sell her to a man – even an old man – to get money to give the other children food,” according to a local chief. “Some households have 10 children and feeding those children is really hard.”
Enrolment in his local primary school has dropped to 210 children from 350 since the drought started to bite last year. “Over a hundred have been removed because of hunger,” the chief told Reuters.
According to the United Nations, only one in five girls in North Eastern Province attend school. Aid agency World Vision is unable to trace 400 of the 3,060 children it sponsors in the district. Some have been sent to stay with better-off relatives who can feed them. Some are working as maids in people’s houses or in food kiosks. But others are married off “just to make sure that the rest of the family does not die from lack of food”, said Jacob Alemu, World Vision’s local programme manager.
It is not the first time the Pope expressed its fears regarding the situation in East Africa as on July 17, he spoke about the humanitarian catastrophe. “Countless people are fleeing terrible famine in search of food and assistance,” the pope told the crowd gathered in the courtyard of his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.
“May those who suffer not lack our solidarity,” the pope said.
In Somalia, the areas most affected by the drought are under the control of an Islamist militant group, al-Shabaab, which has banned western aid agencies, forcing people to flee to the capital Mogadishu, where the U.N.-backed government is struggling to fight off armed groups. In Somalia, 3.7 million people are in crisis, out of a population of 7.5 million. The UN said 3.2 million need immediate lifesaving assistance.
This is taking place at the same time Kenyan Foreign Affairs Assistant minister Richard Onyonka was today (Thursday) grilled by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) detectives over the purchase of sugar worth Sh137 million using CDF cash.
Mr Onyonka, who is also the Kitutu Chache MP, is alleged to have used CDF funds to purchase sugar worth Sh137,058,429 from Chemilil Sugar Company and did not remit VAT worth Sh18.5 million to the Kenya Revenue Authority.