The Garissa government and a vocational training centre on Monday donated more than 3,000 face masks to the county's main prison and the Department of Urban Services.
Education chief officer Mohamed Gure, who presided over the exercise, said the centre started producing face masks after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s appeal to institutions to join in the war against Covid-19.
“This donation is part of a wider exercise by the county administration to protect the most vulnerable members of our society,” he said.
Gure urged the business community and other institutions to join in the fight against the pandemic.
He said the distribution, which began within the IDP camps, has now extended to institutions which are exposed to the pandemic.
Gure said the training centre has so far donated more than 10,000 masks at the subcounty level through local chiefs.
Urban Services chief officer Abdullahi Osman, who received the face masks on behalf of the department, said they will be distributed to cleaners and garbage collectors.
Northeastern regional prisons commander Gacheru Kamore and officer in charge of Garissa Main Prison Abdiwelly Hassan received the masks on behalf of the region and the facility.
Kamore thanked Governor Ali Korane for supporting the prisons services.
He said they will also offer face masks to Wajir and Mandera counties.
Director of vocational training Hassan Aress said the materials used to make the masks meet Kenya Bureau of Standards requirements.
On Saturday Korane appealed to the national government and other partners to provide food donations.
Edited by Frank Obonyo