DP Gachagua prays for rains while facing Mt Kenya
For a second consecutive day, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua took time to pray for the country and its leadership during a hike on Mt Kenya on Saturday morning.
In his prayers, Gachagua asked God to bring rain to the country, which has seen four successive failed rainy seasons and is predicted to have suppressed rainfall in a fifth season.
The lack of rain has left over 4.3 million people at risk of starvation, and experts attribute the suppressed rain to the adverse effects of climate change.
While speaking on the slopes of Mt Kenya, Gachagua said that Kenyans must work together to combat climate change.
“We must all play our part in combating climate change. We must double our efforts to protect our environment,” Gachagua said, adding, “Even as we pray for divine intervention, we will do what we must.”
Gachagua also spoke on the banks of the River Rikki, whose waters have significantly receded due to reduced rainfall and the receding of the glaciers on Mt Kenya, which have traditionally played a significant role in feeding rivers around the crucial Mt. Kenya water catchment area.
The Deputy President emphasized that the Kenyan government is committed to restoring the country’s catchment and protected areas.
Barely months after the Climate Change Conference (COP 27) held in Sharm el Sheikh, President William Ruto’s administration made the policy decision to implement sustainable solutions to the effects of climate change, such as the droughts experienced in Kenya and the Horn of Africa region.
“We cannot deal with drought as an emergency. We must have sustainable solutions to this. We will build dams and pans so that we can move away from rain-fed agriculture to irrigation,” Gachagua said.
“The ministry of Water and Irrigation is already working to set up over 30 dams as a sustainable intervention to combat the effects of climate change.”