Kenya’s preparedness to face disaster emergencies leaves a lot to be desired, often leading to a scramble for help from the international community whenever mishaps occur.
The current drought that has left millions in need of food aid is an example, and the World Bank has stepped in with funds to mitigate the looming disaster.
In addition to the helping hand from donors, the government has also been resorting to budgetary reallocations to help tackle disasters, negatively affecting the programmes originally meant to be funded from the public purse.
The World Bank has now warned that this practice risks slowing down the response to disasters and emergencies, and the implementation of programmes key to the economy and poverty reduction.
There is another emerging problem to this approach, where the rich nations that have been relied upon to fund Kenya’s emergencies are going through economic strains of their own and will, therefore, prioritise themselves before sending money here.
The Covid-19 emergency served as a good warning of this risk when African countries were firmly at the back of the queue for protective kits and vaccines.
This, therefore, calls for better budgeting for disasters on the part of the government.
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