Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party leader Raila Odinga is now urging President William Ruto to declare the ongoing heavy floods a national disaster, as cases of displacement and deaths rise across various parts of the country.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday evening, the opposition chief called on the Head of State to deploy military response units as part of an emergency protocol to assist in mitigating the damage caused by the floods.
“It is our urgent appeal that the President and government hereby declare the floods a national disaster and immediately activate all emergency mechanisms, including military disaster response teams,” he stated.
“The Red Cross moves to launch an emergency disaster support kitty to assist families affected by the flooding, for urgent distribution on case by case basis. As we speak the Azimio MPs assembled here have already put together the sum of Ksh.1 million as a start which shall be given to the Red Cross in Nairobi for distribution to the affected people.”
Odinga also appealed to the Governor Johnson Sakaja-led Nairobi County government to undertake proper rescue efforts in the areas most affected by the floods and provide relevant support to all victims.
He emphasized the need for the government to implement long-lasting measures to address the perennial menace of flooding, stating, “As a country, we can do better than crying for help when rains come and crying for help again when the rains fail.”
“While we continue to receive reports from other parts of Nairobi and access to some neighborhoods remains critically limited, we appeal to the government and other disaster response agencies to launch thorough search and rescue efforts in all affected areas, and provide food rations, blankets, and medication to affected residents,” he added.
