Azimio la umoja. Raila Odinga, a Kenyan coalition party leader, is urgently appealing to President William Ruto to declare the ongoing heavy floods a national disaster, as the country is grappling with a sharp rise in displacement and deaths.
The opposition chief, speaking to the press on Wednesday evening, urged the President to dispatch military response units as part of an emergency protocol to assist in mitigating the damage caused by the floods.
He also calls for a collective effort, proposing an emergency fund to assist flood victims. Notably, opposition-allied Members of Parliament have already raised a Ksh.1 million donation, which will be presented to the Kenya Red Cross.
He emphasizes the need for immediate action, stating, "It is our urgent appeal that the President and government hereby declare the floods a national disaster and activate all emergency mechanisms, including military disaster response teams, without delay.”
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"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."
Mr. Odinga urged the Nairobi County government, led by Governor Johnson Sakaja, to launch proper rescue efforts in the flood-affected areas and provide appropriate assistance to all victims.
He also urged Kenya's Kwanza government to implement long-term solutions to the perennial problem, stating, "as a country, we can do better than crying for help when the 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 neighbourhoods 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 said.
"It is important to point out that all forecasts show that the rains will be pouring some more tonight and the coming days, which means the disaster is about to get worse. Preparedness is key to forestalling a crisis of larger proportions."
