Prophet Owuor: Why Kenya is experiencing drought, situation won’t change if Uhuru, Kenyans won’t do this one thing

Prophet David Owuor of the Repentance and Holiness Ministry has said Kenya is currently experiencing drought – and in some sections, famine – because her population and leadership have distanced themselves from God.

Prophet Owuor has urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to set aside one day for national prayers, which will see Kenyans dedicate their lives to God.

Prophet Owuor made the statement Tuesday on Jesus Is Lord Radio, an FM station run by the church.

“This country cannot ignore the Lord. Rain will not come from the United Nations, Security Council, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, a government policy paper. Rain comes from the Lord,” said Prophet Owuor.

“I see a famine that is coming to this end, I see people walking; the kind of a long call with a plate and a sauce pan in the hand. So, the Lord is asking this country to repent and return to holiness and prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.

“There must be a national repentance where all the leadership and all the people will gather as one person and go before the Lord. This nation that has been so beloved of the Lord; that has seen the goodness of the Lord needs to learn to go back to same God that healed her cripples, the deaf, the mute, HIV/AIDS, spinal cord injuries. That God may also now cover her on this nakedness of famine.”

The United Nations had said in December, 2016 that Kenya needs to brace itself for worsening drought in 2017.

The UN had used a new early warning system that predicts the availability of forage for animals in the country’s arid livestock-dependent north.

People and animals’ lives are at risk because they have not had a chance to recover from drought in 2014 as rains were also poor in 2015 and 2016, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

“We really are concerned that the situation is going to deteriorate rapidly early into next year,” Piers Simpkin, a livestock expert with FAO in Kenya, told a news conference.

“There is serious drought looming in early 2017.”

Large swathes of Africa are experiencing severe drought, with 39 million people hit by a crisis predicted to peak early 2017.

The predictive livestock early warning system, developed together with Texas A and M University, shows how much forage will be available in Kenya up to May 2017, using computer modeling of water flows and vegetation growth.

“The months of April and May will present a big challenge,” said FAO’s Joseph Matere, an expert working on the early warning system.

Kenya’s long rains season, from March to May, is critical for the wellbeing of its farmers and livestock herders.

The 2016 long rains were poor, leaving 1.3 million Kenyans in need of food aid, according to the government, which has started distributing maize, beans and rice to hungry people in the worst-affected northern and coastal regions.

Long rains in 2017 are also likely to be poor, with a delayed start and below average rainfall, Matere said.

FAO has released $400,000 (KSh42 million) to spend in Kenya on training, vaccination, animal feed and encouraging people to sell animals before they fall sick.

“Generally, responses to drought or crisis are too little and too late,” said Simpkin, adding that it can take several months for emergency aid to reach people on the ground.

“In the past, money for water trucking is released after the rains have fallen.”

Early responses cost $10 (KSh1000) per family, compared to $50 (KSh5, 200) per family at the height of a crisis, he said.

The drought situation in the arid and semi-arid areas in the country is so dire that ongoing IEBC voter registration in Samburu County has been affected, with some residents fleeing due to drought.

Samburu West election co-ordinator Daniel Learum however said they would ensure that residents who had migrated to areas within the constituency were registered.
 

 

 

 

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