GARISSA – Governor Nathif Jama and Defence Cabinet Secretary Hon. Aden Duale today launched relief food distribution exercise targeting drought affected residents of Garissa county.

The two leaders also flagged off water boozers to ferry water to needy residents of the county.

The exercise took place at Shimbirey Primary School Grounds in Balambala sub-county.

In his remarks, CS Duale thanked the President William Ruto for the timely intervention response of relief food which he said will help the local pastoralist community manage in the face of the prevailing drought.

He said more rice, cooking oil and beans will continue to be distributed to the affected residents in the county and nobody would die from hunger.

He added that the KDF operated Kenya Meat Commission would do an off-take of upto 10,000 cows, and the corned beef which will be produced from them will be distributed to school children in drought affected counties.

Gvn. Nathif said the county and national governments were committed to providing water and food to residents affected by drought.

He appealed to the Defence Cabinet Secretary to lobby at the national level for more interventions to upscale water trucking services to cover more settlements and also for the provision of livestock feeds and more relief food.

The Governor said he had prioritized the reviving of all the 126 health centers in the county in order to bring health services closer to the people.

He also called for a re-look at the issue of the Lapsset Project in order to ensure the local community benefited more from them in terms of jobs.

Similary, he urged local youths to make use of the vocational centers near them to equip themselves with skills like masonry, welding and plumbing so they could enjoy employment in projects like Lapsset

Present during the function included Lagdera MP Abdikadir Mohamed, Fafi MP Salah Yakub, Ijara MP Abdi Ali, County CECs led by County Secretary Mohamud Mursal, Members of the County Assembly led by the Deputy Speaker Musdaf Abdirashid, Senior Government officers led by County Commissioner Boaz Cherutich, representatives of various development partners among others.

Via Governor’s Press Service.