MPs: North Eastern drought situation should be declared national disaster

North Eastern lawmakers are calling on the government to declare the ongoing drought a national disaster, as a regional bloc warned of a worsening situation in the Horn of Africa.

The situation has become so severe that newly elected Banissa MP Ahmed Maalim Hassan revealed that voters who had migrated to the neighbouring Ethiopia had to be brought back to Kenya to vote. Most of the affected communities are in Mandera, Wajir, Isiolo, Marsabit and Garissa counties.

Mr Hassan highlighted the dire conditions in Northern Kenya, noting that residents have been forced to move to neighbouring areas in search of basic needs such as food, water and pasture for their livestock.

“As you are aware, we just came from the ground in Banissa and the drought there is on another level. Even the people who voted for us had to be moved from the interior of Ethiopia and other neighbouring counties because they had left with their livestock,” he said.

He spoke at a briefing by MPs from the northern frontier counties at the Parliament Buildings, where they lamented that the government has yet to treat the drought with the seriousness it deserves.

Other MPs at the briefing included Abdullahi Bashir (Mandera North), Ibrahim Abdi Saney (Wajir North), Adow Aden Mohamed (Wajir South), Hussein Weytan Mohamed (Mandera East), Aden Keynan (Aldas), and Hussein Abdi Barre (Tarbaj).

The MPs criticised the government for treating press briefings on the North Eastern drought as an annual affair, calling instead for sustainable intervention measures to address the perennial crisis.

MP Saney blamed the government for a “failure to plan and prepare to mitigate the impact of drought, which has become an issue year in, year out.”

“Why fail to plan and prepare ahead?” posed MP Saney.

The leaders are urging the government to declare the drought in North Eastern Kenya a national disaster, warning that it has already claimed human lives as well as livestock, with Mandera County being the worst affected.

“These press conferences have become an annual debacle because we hold them every year. Unless the government introduces sustainable measures, we will continue to face such crises,” he stated.

“Most of the statements you hear here are an understatement. Things on the ground are tough. We have been there for the last two weeks. If you go and visit, we are not even talking about animals now, we are talking about human beings,” said MP Maalim.

He also highlighted rising tensions among clans in Banissa, where conflicts over scarce resources, particularly water, have become common.

In a joint statement, the MPs raised alarm over worsening food insecurity, projected to continue until February, with at least 2.1 million Kenyans in arid and semi-arid (Asal) counties such as Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Turkana and Tana River at risk.

“We want the government to declare drought a national disaster so that donors can intervene. The government should scale up emergency food aid, revisit livestock-oriented policies, including fast-tracking the sinking of boreholes, and coordinate with county governments and off-take programs to protect pastoralist livelihoods,” stated MP Bashir.

Drier than usual 

The MPs appealed for government interventions through emergency relief, water access, livestock protection, conflict mitigation, climate adaptation, social protection, and long-term resilience, including investments in climate-smart infrastructure and diversified livelihoods.

In its latest alert, the Igad Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) said the region has experienced drier-than-usual conditions since the onset of the short-rains season, with rainfall deficits particularly recorded from August to October.

IGAD’s seasonal outlook for November 2025 to January 2026 shows a high likelihood of continued below-average rainfall over the Horn of Africa.

“This is expected to worsen the current situation, with significant impacts anticipated across critical socio-economic sectors, including agriculture and food security, water resources, livestock, health, and nutrition,” the advisory stated.

The projections indicate that below-average rainfall and higher-than-normal temperatures will suppress crop yields, deplete pasture, and dry up water sources, ultimately reducing food production and weakening household purchasing power.

Out of the 23 Asal counties, 11 are expected to see an increase in populations classified as being in crisis or worse.

The analysis warned that poor rainfall during this period will limit the availability of water and pasture, intensifying competition for scarce natural resources and increasing the likelihood of resource-based conflicts among pastoral communities.

“Consequently, competition over scarce natural resources is expected to intensify, fueling resource-based conflicts,” the report read.

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