This archive report was first published on 3 December 2019.
Published on December 3, 2019, by SHALOM MAGOMA
The ongoing rains have opened the Pandora's box of how pitiably our disaster risk management structures are controlled and managed.
It is petrifying to see first responding officers hitchhiking on the backs of residents to cross a swollen river, when the reverse should be true.
A disaster management colleague notes that failure to enact disaster risk management legislation has denied counties the much-needed funds for planning, response, and recovery.
Our response is habitually a knee-jerk reaction, with the recent West Pokot landslide tragedy serving as a stark example.
While the government has done commendable work in search, rescue, reunification, and triage, the basic needs of the survivors have been neglected.
There is a need to standardise response for disasters by sea, land, and air, and to foster the adoption and equipping of disaster management units at all levels with requisite human resource.
Disasters will keep happening; the difference is how prepared we are for them.
