Winnie Odinga
Azimio la Umoja Leader Raila Odinga’s daughter and East Africa Legislative Assembly MP Winnie Odinga has questioned the Kenyan government’s preparedness for the El Nino rains, which are expected in the coming weeks.
In a statement on her X account on Friday, Winnie wondered why relevant government authorities are yet to issue updates on El Nino preparedness.
“The weatherman said we won’t see the sun until January. Has there been any update from the relevant bodies on El Niño preparedness?” she posed.
The EALA MP also questioned whether the county governments have started moving residents from landslide-prone areas to avert and efforts to avert floods with the coming long rains.
“County governments digging up clogged drainage, movement of people from landslide-prone areas, flood aversion strategies, school safety, Loss of harvest. Basically, what’s the plan?” she posed.
Her remarks come a week after the Kenya Meteorological Department warned of a 99 percent likelihood of high rainfall across parts of the country as El Niño returns this year.
“This will be driven by warmer than average Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) over the Central and Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean indicating the presence of El Niño conditions. According to most of the global climate models, El Niño conditions are likely to persist throughout the season,” Kenya Meteorological Department Director David Gikungu said.
The last time Kenya experienced such conditions was in 2006, and the worst El Nino season occurred in 1997.
Experts have also predicted floods in major towns such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Naivasha. During the enhanced rains, some small earth dams and pans will be affected.
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