KRC Northeastern regional coordinator Hassan Musa /STEPHEN ASTARIKO
The Kenya Red Cross has embarked on massive recruitment of volunteers at the grassroots level in Garissa county to enhance effective response to disaster.
KRC Northeastern regional coordinator Hassan Musa said response by the few volunteers in Garissa town had been a major impediment towards emergency disaster response in the region.
He spoke during an Iftar session on Thursday organised by the Kenya Red Cross and International Committee of the Red Cross at a Garissa hotel.
“In areas prone to river floods disaster, we need volunteers on the ground who can swiftly respond and rescue lives as we anticipate floods due to heavy rains in the other parts of the country,” he said.
Musa said based on past experience, the organisation decided to recruit at the subcounties level for efficiency and quick intervention towards humanitarian crisis.
The March long rain season has started. In the past, residents have been marooned by floods, causing displacement and destruction of property.
In other instances, human and livestock lives have been lost, the most recent in April last year, when at least 15 drowned at Kona Punda along the Garissa-Madogo stretch after the boat they were traveling in capsised.
He said the volunteers would be empowered with various skills including first aid, flood response, disaster preparedness and response, and dissemination of public information.
He further said the recruitment will help get a timely assessment reports during disaster and food distribution exercise. Garissa farmers network secretary general Ebla Hassan lauded efforts to train more volunteers.
She narrated how branch volunteers responded to farmers that were marooned during the 2024, March -May long floods disaster in Garissa.
“I can recall a distressful moment when a mother and her three children were trapped at their farm in Garissa forcing them climb a tree for safety. When I heard of the incident, I called the Garissa branch for intervention and they immediately dispatched a team of volunteers using a motor boat who rescued the family,” she said.
Hassan sheikh Abdi, Supkem official who spoke on behalf of the religious leaders, appreciated efforts by the Kenya Red Cross and the ICRC to respond towards humanitarian emergencies.
He hailed the volunteers, recalling their heroic response during the Garissa floods disaster and the April 2015, Garissa University terror attack where 147 students were killed and scores injured.
The Garissa branch coordinator Daud Ahmed also announced distribution relief food to 640 households in Lagdera and Balambala subcounties in response to those affected by drought.
