Counties sitting on Sh1b emergency fund amid raging floods

Residents of Mathare trying to salvage their belongings after a night of flooding on April 24, 2024. [Robert Tomno, Standard] 

Counties have yet to spend Sh973 million budgeted for emergency services in the 2023/2024 financial year.

This comes even as raging floods continue to cause havoc across the country, killing dozens and displacing more than 100,000 people.  

Data from the Office of the Controller of Budget (CoB) indicates that Kenyan counties cumulatively set aside Sh1.9 billion to their emergency funds in the 2023/2024 financial year.

Out of this, the administrative units have spent Sh963 million as of December last year, leaving Sh973 million unspent.  

According to the CoB data, just 34 out of the 47 counties have set up emergency or disaster funds for the current financial year, with Sh871 million budgeted in the last financial year left unused. At the same time, other counties, particularly those from the arid and semi-arid areas, spent all the money allocated for their emergency funds in the first half of the financial year, raising concern over their ability to respond to the current disaster. 

On Friday, Deputy President Rigathi Gachgua said the government is going to put together a Sh4 billion fund to address the ongoing floods. 

“We are in discussions with the National Treasury, and we are trying to put up Sh4 billion as an emergency fund,” he said.

“The National Youth Service will be facilitated to resettle the displaced families, unblock drains and waterways and handle overspilling dams.” 

The Kenya Red Cross has also put out an emergency appeal for Sh2.6 billion to assist with response efforts and humanitarian assistance to those affected countrywide. 

“The floods are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the country just as it emerges from the El Nino floods, which occurred late 2023 when at least 178 people were killed, 242 injured and thousands displaced,” said the Red Cross in its latest appeal. 

According to the Red Cross, flooding has been reported in 24 out of the 47 counties with more than 25,000 households affected and 11,275 displaced. 

“The economic activities of the areas have been significantly disrupted with major roads destroyed totalling 11 critical facilities such as seven health facilities flooded, 18 schools destroyed, and 80 businesses hampered,” said the Red Cross. “More than 3,401 livestock have been lost and approximately 26,748 acres of crops destroyed.”  

The government’s response to the raging floods has drawn criticism from various quarters, with both the national and county governments accused of moving too slowly. 

Some of the counties leading in underutilisation of their disaster funds include Tana River, which as of December last year was yet to spend anything from the Sh132 million the county set aside for its disaster fund. 

Others include Nandi, Bungoma, and Kakamega, which have all budgeted Sh100 million for their emergency funds but were yet to spend a shilling out of it as of December last year. 

Nairobi City County leads in expenditure from the disaster fund with Sh180 million out of the budgeted Sh200 million disbursed as of December last year, representing 90 per cent of its approved disaster budget for the year. 

While some counties could have drawn from their emergency funds in the past few weeks following the onset of the floods, the unspent monies have raised concern over the effectiveness of counties’ response. 

An audit report by the Office of the Auditor General released in November last year found that the government response to the onset of the El Nino rains last year was characterised by inadequacies and deficiencies. 

“The audit revealed that flood early warning information was generated both by the Kenya Metrology Department (KMD) and the Water Resources Authority (WRA),” explained Auditor General Nancy Gathungu. 

“The information was then communicated to stakeholders through various avenues, including the National Government Administration Officers chain of command, local FM stations and SMS by the Kenya Red Cross.”

However, only three out of 54 county-level disaster management committees held meetings to deliberate on the floods and assess their preparedness. 

Community members interviewed in the audit revealed that the lack of designated evacuation centres, inadequate basic amenities in the displacement camps and fear of loss of property hampered calls to move to higher ground. 

Communities also lacked basic tools and equipment including rescue boats and life jackets and had no training on evacuation. 

“As a result of the inadequate evacuation, lives were lost, property destroyed and livelihoods affected by flooding disasters,” explained the Auditor General.

“The audit attributed the challenges facing evacuation of victims to lack of clarity on the mandate between the national and county governments on evacuation and ineffective coordination and support of the communities.”.