•He said Turkana has perennially been hit by poverty since the colonial days and nobody should be blamed for the drought
Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok says the devolved unit needs Sh60 billion annually for 10 years to effectively tackle drought and poverty.
Nanok said the Sh10 billion they get from the national Treasury cannot solve Turkana problems.
In the 2019-20 financial year, Turkana has been allocated Sh10.2 billion, up from Sh9.1 billion the previous year.
Kenyans have been criticising the government of Nanok on social media for not effectively dealing with drought and starvation despite receiving the second highest allocation after Nairobi.
Nanok said the Sh10 billion is too little for Turkana's problems. "Sh10 billion is like a drop of medicine disbursed by the national government."
Out of the Sh10 billion, Sh2 billion goes to operations and staff wages, Sh1 billion to the county assembly and Sh1.5 billion to the health sector.
Some Sh1.5 billion is set aside for food security, agriculture, irrigation and fisheries, and another Sh1.5 billion to water. The rest goes to other needy sectors.
The governor urged Kenyans to be sympathetic to what the Turkana county government has done to better the lives of residents.
Nanok accused the media, specifically the TV stations, of blowing the hunger situation out of proportion.
He said some of the TV station hosts and guests have never stepped in Turkana.