Nakuru County Executive Member for Road, Transport and Public Works, John Kairu has accused the national government of failing to disburse the Sh500 million El Nino funds it promised the county government.
“The problem we are experiencing in mitigating the effects of El Nino has been occasioned by the national government’s failure to honour the Sh500 million it promised Nakuru County," Kairu claimed.
He spoke on Saturday in Elementaita Ward, Gilgil sub-county during an inspection tour to ascertain the effects of the rains.
The minister said the county government is being forced to use the county budgetary allocations to alleviate the suffering the rains are causing.
“We have been forced to use the county's funds to mitigate the effects of the rains and this is affecting service delivery of the county," the minister said.
His remarks come amid cries from residents that the county government has failed to address the effects of El Nino.
Rhoda and Kaptenbwa estates have borne the brunt of the rains.
Kairu urged the national government to hasten the process of disbursing the funds to help the county government address effectively the effects of El-Nino.
“The government should move quickly and release the funds to ensure the operations of addressing the effects of El Nino are tackled," said Kairu.
Kairu's appeal comes at time when the nation is set to benefit from a Sh8.5 billion kitty set aside by the European Union to prevent loss of life and destruction of property in the Horn of Africa region as a result of the ongoing El Niño rains.
According to the EU, the money will be used to save lives and increase resilience in the affected countries to mitigate further damage caused by the heavy rains.