President William Ruto's Cabinet has directed all Kenyans living in areas prone to be affected by flooding to vacate within 48 hours.
Snippets of the resolutions from the Cabinet sitting held on Tuesday morning indicated that the order affects all individuals living on fragile ecosystems.
They include areas likely to be or already affected by flooding, mudslides, and landslides as well as those living along riparian lands. They should depart by Thursday this week.
During his visit to Mai Mahiu on Tuesday afternoon, Ruto promised that the state will facilitate the vacation since it had already mapped out all the affected regions.
"It is important that ahead of time, we protect the lives of people and that is why we have concluded the mapping of all areas that are in danger so that we can assist citizens to move away in time because the forecast is such that rain will continue for the foreseeable future and there is a lot of precipitation in many places," he stated.
"There are people looking to go back home. Do not be in a rush to return because the government will take care of your needs and we shall send experts to assess the land. If we get assurance of no further disaster occurring, we shall facilitate your return," he assured the victims.
Yesterday evening, Ruto defended his government's response to the flooding tragedy which has claimed more than 120 lives and left over 190,000 displaced.
“This is not the time for a blame game, we should just address ourselves to the issues, and move with speed to respond. I ask citizens to move away from areas of danger,” the president stated.
Reports indicate that 71 people have been confirmed dead from the Kijabe Dam incident in Mai Mahiu with 91 others declared missing.
In Kenyans.co.ke exclusive interview with Kenya Red Cross Emergency Response Manager Anthony Muchiri for my Evening Brief Newsletter, only 69 cases of missing persons have been reported to the non-governmental organisation.
He, however, estimated that the economic loss could be much larger since the devastation uprooted entire households from the ground including foundations.
"What you see is it is a whole village cleared off. I am not privy to the structures that were in the village. What I know is houses, even the foundations, have been cleared off the ground," Muchiri told this writer.
He, however, noted that the National Disaster Management Operations Center was already coordinating support agencies as rescue missions continued. (To see our chat, visit our weekday newsletter Evening Brief here)
“The instruments that have been built into the budget give all governments, at all levels emergency resources. There is always room for any county to adjust their budgets to take care of emergencies,” he noted.
“Every level of government has been built into the budget, that a certain percentage of their budget can be reorganised to meet emergency requirements."
