NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Will political reform and a change of government in Kenya bring new political will to tackle climate change and associated disaster risks from changing weather?
Within weeks of Kenya’s new government being sworn in, flooding has claimed dozens of lives and displaced tens of thousands of people, putting climate-related disasters in the political spotlight.
On April 18, Deputy President William Ruto noted that recent floods had caused more than 60 deaths and forced 35,000 from their homes.
Among the most affected areas is the Tana Delta, where some 6,000 families have suffered heavy losses after the Tana River burst its banks and swamped thousands of acres of farmland, destroying crops. Some villagers drowned.
As recently as August last year, more than 50 people were massacred in this same region as communities clashed over water and grazing land following a damaging dry spell.
Mithika Mwenda, secretary general of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), says crises like these are predictable, and the government should prepare for them, thereby preventing loss of life.
“It pains me when I see people die, children become orphaned, and property get washed away in an event that can be avoided,” he told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Initial signs that the government may act are positive. The deputy president has announced that the government intends to set up a disaster management authority, through a sessional paper soon to be tabled in parliament.
Kenya lacks an official disaster management policy, which has resulted in slow and inadequate responses to past crises.
“We should never again be caught unawares by disasters and other natural calamities that we can predict and prepare for,” Ruto said.
MINISTERS WITH EXPERTISE?
PACJA’s Mwenda is optimistic because, unlike in previous governments where the president could handpick a minister to reward friendship or political loyalty, the country’s new constitution is designed to stop such manipulation of power.
“Many things went wrong in the previous regimes because people found themselves heading dockets they were not familiar with,” said Mwenda.
Instead, the new constitution requires that the president nominate ministers, who are then subject to public scrutiny through a televised vetting process before being sworn in. Any Kenyan can challenge the appointment as long as there is concrete evidence to prove the candidate is not qualified for the job.
In practice, this means that, for the first time in history, Kenyan ministries are likely to be led by individuals with expertise in a relevant field.
John Kioli, executive director of the Green Africa Foundation, says Kenya could solve many of its environmental problems providing there is the political will to do so.
Budalang’i in Western Kenya, for example, has long been prone to perennial floods. With backing from the area’s Member of Parliament, the government rehabilitated two major dykes over the past five years. And for the first time in more than two decades, local residents have not been affected by flooding following the recent spell of heavy rains.
Evans Kituyi, a Kenya-based climate change adaptation specialist, says there is hope that the new government will be able to move the country forward on climate-related policy, thanks to more effective ministry leadership.
“Because of the professionalism being witnessed in the government structures, we are likely going to see policies being implemented, and money being channeled to the intended projects across the board,” Kituyi said.
SOLAR FARMS
The Jubilee alliance, a coalition of parties that backed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s electoral bid and now make up the government, also plans to invest in clean energy in a scheme to enable more than 70 percent of Kenyans living in rural areas to access electricity from renewable sources.
As stipulated in its manifesto, the government intends to encourage the establishment of solar farms that will be partly owned by local communities, to supply them with energy. They will be able to sell any surplus back to Kenya Power and Lighting Company, the sole distributor of grid electricity, at commercial rates.
The previous government invested heavily in efforts to extend the power grid to rural areas, with backing from the French government. But most rural communities still have no access to electricity, forcing them to use other energy sources such as fuel wood, diesel and kerosene, which have damaging effects for the environment.
Currently, Kenya depends heavily on hydroelectric power. When water levels drop, power production is reduced and diesel generators are often used to plug the deficit.
If the new government’s ambitious pledges are implemented, rural people and off-grid villages will receive low-cost loans to buy small renewable power systems. The loans, according to the blueprint, can be paid back under the electricity billing system, using mobile money transfer services.
Another space to watch is efforts to restore the depleted Mau Forest, which plays a major role in Kenya’s natural water cycle, as the forest absorbs water during the rainy season and slowly releases it during the rest of the year.
In the recent past, Ruto has repeatedly clashed with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga over the eviction of people who had encroached on the forest’s land. The majority of those affected were from the deputy president’s ethnic community.
In November, the Daily Nation, Kenya’s leading daily newspaper, quoted Ruto as saying: “Since independence, Kalenjins have never spent nights in the cold as was the case when they were evicted from (the) Mau Forest where they lived in peace. Their troubles started when the Prime Minister and Lands Minister James Orengo authorised their eviction.”
Since becoming deputy president, Ruto has yet to comment on the Mau Forest evictees. But the Jubilee Manifesto promised the government will ensure that all internally displaced people “are settled and where possible return to their homes in accordance with the law and have a decent place to live when they do”.
Isaiah Esipisu is a journalist specialising in agricultural and environmental reporting. He can be contacted at esipisus@yahoo.com
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