Turkana: Turkana County will soon have a world-class disaster response hub to serve the local areas and international neighbours of Uganda and South Sudan. The groundbreaking plan was revealed during a high-level meeting between the County Government and Kenya Red Cross Society.
According to Kenya News Agency, Deputy Governor Dr. John Erus expressed confidence in the hub’s capacity to improve emergency preparedness and provide information for decision-making on disaster response programming moving forward. ‘We can confirm that the ten acres of land donated by the County Government to the Kenya Red Cross Society will host the advanced centre,’ DG Erus said.
Dr. Erus highlighted Turkana’s long history of recurrent disasters, noting that the county is a strategic location for such an investment due to the challenges posed by climate change, which are exacerbating the disaster situation.
Kenya Red Cross Programme’s Deputy Secretary General Joe Mbalu stated that the hub would bring the number of existing hubs to eleven, complementing the ten already operational in other regions. ‘Once completed, this hub will be unique. Designed to serve all areas of Turkana, including the hard-to-reach areas, the hub will also serve as an international resource, therefore limiting time wastage in responding to disasters in neighbouring Uganda and South Sudan,’ Mbalu said.
Key issues discussed during the meeting included the impact of funding cuts on service delivery, ongoing joint resource mobilisations for constructing a Sh6 billion dam across River Tarach to enhance water supply, host-refugee integration support, deployment of drone technology to assess damage caused by backflow of water bodies, and the entry of the Danish Red Cross as new partners.
The meeting was attended by County Secretary Dr. Richard Ekai, Deputy County Secretaries Dr. Albert Gamoe (Cabinet Affairs) and Peter Nyang’a (Administration), CECM for Health and Sanitation Dr. Epem Joseph Esekon, and the Deputy Director for Disaster Risk Management Moses Nawoton.