Govt Explains Why Ruto Earlier Said There Is No El Nino In Kenya

The government has defended President William Ruto's bold declaration on Sunday, October 22 that Kenya would not experience El Nino rains as previously predicted by the Kenya Meteorological Department.

Speaking on Monday, November 27 during a media briefing, State House spokesperson Hussein Mohamed revealed that initially, President Ruto took the warning by the weatherman seriously, hence being the first to announce to the country regarding the El Nino phenomenon.

However, the Met Department had downgraded the weather phenomenon, hence the President announcing that meteorologists had reversed their previous projections of El Nino rains expected to hit the country.

"The warning from the Met Department was taken seriously and that is why he (The President) was the first person to pronounce himself on the matter," Mohamed explained.

"They classified this as an El Nino phenomenon and there was a warning. The same Met downgraded, so the President was speaking from information from Met which downgraded and then the President communicated."

However, Mohamed acknowledged that the Met department got their predictions on weather patterns wrong as it was not a precise science, something he stated had also occurred in several places worldwide.

"Now it has happened and of course, prediction of weather patterns is not a precise science, we all know that and several places in the world have got it wrong. The most important thing is to deal with the situation at hand," he added.

Addressing a congregation during a church service in Riruta, Nairobi, the Head of State revealed "We heard reports that the country will experience El Nino rains, which have the potential to destroy property. But God has been faithful."

"We have now heard the meteorologists saying that will no longer be the case. We will just have heavy rains. We thank God," he stated.

However, his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua and Kenya Meteorological Department Director David Gikungu corrected him by announcing that the country was experiencing the El Nino rains, before he himself staged an impromptu Disaster Response press briefing at State House on Saturday, November 25 in response to the weather extremities.

Regarding declaring the El Nino phenomenon a national disaster, Mohamed explained that the decision was based on data on the ground, adding that the assessment has only put it so far at an alarming stage.

He added that the National Disaster Operation Centre that will be based at Nyayo House at the Ministry of Interior is assessing by-the-minute data on the ground and whether there is a need to escalate the matter beyond the alarming stage.

Mohamed was making his address as the Cabinet revealed that 38 counties are in the alarm stage in El Nino, with the death toll standing at 76 and 35,000 displaced following the floods that have affected the country.

During the meeting, the Cabinet resolved to mobilize a Ksh7 billion contingency fund to curb the effects of El Nino, with resources to be sent to counties for humanitarian response.