Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Friday commissioned the newly formed National Drought Response Steering Committee.
Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom PLC, will preside over the 15-person panel, which will report to Gachagua.
The team's objective is to gather funds to support the government's drought response operations and establish a private sector-led appeal fund for drought mitigation under the sponsorship of the Kenya Red Cross.
"The President has established the Steering Committee to provide a framework for mobilisation of additional resources following increased public interest in scaling up of drought response to meet the needs of fellow citizens affected by drought," said DP Gachagua.
Along with strengthening the nation's capacity for resilient recovery to safeguard development gains from recurring drought, the committee will also supervise interventions to protect affected populations from the effects of the ongoing drought. It will work with the national and county governments on these initiatives.
"Even as we discuss and implement these short-term measures, we are aware that there is need to look at long-term interventions to mitigate the effects of the perennial droughts and climate change which has been blamed for the current situation," said Ndegwa.
