Counties have been asked to ensure that funds are set aside to deal with emergencies once they arise other than having to rely on the national government for everything. 

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This is according to Isiolo North MP Hassan Odha, who accused devolved units of their over-reliance to the national government, whenever calamities strike. 

"Though it may be difficult for counties to handle some disasters on their own, they should first exhaust their emergency kit before rushing to seek help from the national government," said the legislator, as quoted by Daily Nation.

The MP said that the devolved governments must lay down rules governing the usage of emergency funds to ensure that they are not put in other uses. 

He noted that without such guides, huge sums of money may fail to be accounted for after disappearance, leaving Kenyans more stricken. 

The MP also called upon MCAs to pass the disaster funds allocation, after which they formulate an Emergency Act Bill, ensuring allocation in every budget as stated by the Public Finance Management Act.

He attributed the current locusts' invasion to lack of disaster risk management plan and asked that once the Bill passes in the national assembly, devolved governments should adopt such ensuring disaster preparedness improvement.

"With a disaster risk management plan in place, the government would have been well prepared to deal with the invasion, recent floods and drought," said Odha. 

Other than relief food distribution in times of hunger, the legislator noted that farmers and livestock keepers could be taught on yield improvement instead.