Faith Nyasuguta
In a move that has shocked many residents, drought-stricken Kenya has donated a planeload of relief supplies to neighbouring Somalia.
The donation has been met with an uproar on social media as over 25 percent of Kenyans living in arid and semi-arid areas are facing acute food insecurity, according to UN data.
The consignment included assorted food items and various assorted drugs, according to a statement released by the Kenyan military.
It noted that the relief aid was in response to last week’s bombings in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, that left 120 people dead.
“We feel the pain that our brothers and sisters in Somalia are feeling and we are grateful to President William Ruto for this initiative which will help alleviate the suffering of our neighbours,” said Colonel Victor Kang’ethe.
On Thursday, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua had appealed to Kenyans to donate food to their starving fellow citizens, according to local media outlets.
“No Kenyan should die from hunger when other Kenyans have surplus food,” he was quoted as saying.
On Twitter, John Ndungu asked: “How do you send a plane full of foodstuffs to Somalia yet your own people are dying of hunger? Make it make sense.”
Maurice Onyango posed: “Who said we have more than enough to give?”
A fourth season of failed rains is causing one of the worst droughts East Africa has seen in decades.
