‘Too little, too late’: Azimio dismisses Ruto’s Ksh.10K offer to Nairobi flood victims

The Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition party has brushed off President William Ruto’s promise of Ksh.10,000 for every household displaced by floods in Nairobi County.

Ruto on Monday visited flood victims in Mathare, where he promised Ksh.10,000 to each of the 40,000 affected families.

“Every household of the 40,000 households that have been displaced in Nairobi County will be paid Ksh.10,000 so that they find alternative accommodation for the time being,” Ruto said, adding that the state will construct new homes in the capital’s most-hit areas.

During a press conference in Nairobi on Wednesday, the opposition coalition however dismissed Ruto’s pledge as “a case of too little, too late” by the president’s “disastrous” Kenya Kwanza administration.

“For families that have lost everything, such allocations are too little to start afresh. We demand that the government increase the allocation to at least Ksh.100,000 per family and immediately launch an emergency aid appeal for all the flood victims in Kenya,” Azimio co-principal and Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka said.

He lashed out at the government for forcefully evicting people from areas considered flood-prone, terming it a recipe for more suffering for Kenyans.

“Such evictions, whether mandatory or voluntary, must be done in a humane manner that respects human rights without causing further deaths,” said Musyoka.

Government figures released Tuesday show that at least 238 people have so far died since heavy rains and flooding in most of Kenya began in March.

Seventy-five other people have been reported missing, with 47,000 households displaced by the floods nationwide.

The Meteorological Department on Monday indicated that rainfall intensity across the country will likely reduce later this week.

The government has since announced the reopening of schools next Monday after holding it for a week over ongoing floods in many parts of the country.