By Margaret Kalekye
Kilifi leaders are appealing to the government to fast-track the construction of Rare dam in drought hit Ganze sub County.
Speaking Monday during the flagging off of food supplies to schools that are yet to benefit from the government school meals program, Ganze MP Kenneth Kazingu and Kilifi woman rep Getrude Mbeyu said construction of the dam will alleviate the persistent water scarcity faced by the resident due to recurring drought.
Kilifi county commissioner Josephat Biwott pledged to bring onboard leaders from the area and stakeholders to address gaps to ensure the mega project that requires Ksh6B is prioritised.
” We want to thank Child Welfare Society of Kenya for supporting our schools that bear the brunt of the drought situation. After this we want to sit with all development partners to address the gaps identified in regards to the food situation in our schools and also look at long term interventions including the construction of the dam that has delayed” said the commissioner.
MP Kazungu regretted that Ganze sub County was still reeling from the effects of Drought with many learners keeping off schools.
He said the rains that have been experienced in the area would salvage the crisis but warned that the much awaited harvest in August would be poor owing to invasions by elephants that have destroyed crops.
“As we speak now, over 2000 elephants are roaming in farms and KWS has deployed helicopters to drive out the animals but they seem to be overwhelmed,” he said.
He further called on the government to focus on investing in long term interventions that can improve livelihoods.
Woman Representative Mbeyu who graced the distribution exercise, blamed the rising cases of drop out among school going girls and teenage pregnancies on lack of sanitary towels.
She urged the government to allow women representatives to manage the sanitary towels kitty.
“The Ministry of Education is allocated 10 million for each county for free pads, the six coastal counties can come together to manage the fund. With Ksh 60million we can put up a sanitary towels factory. It’s cheaper, efficient and many girls in the coast will benefit as such improve enrolment and retention rates” she said.
The county which was in the alert drought phase has improved to normal phase.
According to Kilifi county drought coordinator Abdi Musa three sub counties namely Ganze, Magarini and Kaloleni sub counties remain vulnerable.
Child Welfare Society of Kenya has come to the rescue of 40 primary and secondary schools identified by the Ministry of Education in Kwale and Kilifi Counties that are yet to benefit from the government school lunch meals programme.
At least 21,444 learners are beneficiaries of the programme.
