On July 11, 2011, Machakos Governor Dr Alfred Mutua found himself in trouble with Kenyans when he said that he was not aware of a single Kenyan who died from hunger.
Mutua, the then government spokesman, asked Kenyans to provide him with information yet it was his role to do so.
In the previous weeks, before he made the statement, there were reports all over the internet and media stations that Kenyans were dying of hunger in the North Eastern region.
To the surprise of many, Mutua said that he was not aware.
“So far, the government does not have an official report of a Kenyan that has died as a result of the hunger,” Dr Mutua told a news conference in Nairobi.
“We are asking anybody who has information of a confirmed death due to starvation to let us know; the government needs that information because it is very wrong for a Kenyan to die or starve whereas there is food in the country,” he asserted.
He also confirmed that the government had put in place measures to ensure that those suffering as a result of hunger are rescued with immediate effect.
He said that the government had allocated Sh 10.5 billion for feeding all affected Kenyans.
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