President William Ruto has established the National Steering Committee on Drought Response to lead a private-sector effort to mitigate the drought situation in the country.
In a gazette notice issued Monday, President Ruto appointed Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa to chair the 15-member team.
Member of the committee are Dr James Mwangi, CEO, Equity Bank Group Kenya PLC, Nasim Devji, CEO, Diamond Trust Bank, Shamaz Savani, CEO, African Banking Corporation Bank (ABC), Paul Rushdie Russo, CEO, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group Rebecca Mbithi, CEO, Family Bank Kenya Limited, Jane Karuku, CEO, East African Breweries Limited and Joshua Chepkwony, CEO, Jamii Telecommunication Limited
Other are Crispin Acholla, CEO, British American Tobacco, Dr Asha Mohammed – Secretary-General, Kenya Red Cross, Edwins Mukabanah, CEO, Kenya Bus Services Management, Patricia Mugambi Ndegwa, Impact Philanthropy Africa, Krishma Jitesh Chavda, ISHA Foundation, and Hared Hassan (Lt.) Col., National Drought Management Authority.
Ruto said the committee’s formation was necessitated by the need to institutionalize the framework for mobilizing additional resources to address the worsening drought impacts.
The President tasked the committee with establishing a private-sector-led National Drought Mitigation Appeal Fund in conjunction with the Kenya Red Cross to supplement the government’s drought response program in dealing with the biting hunger.
They will also be responsible for approving the opening and closing of bank accounts to be jointly operated by a representative from the private sector, the Kenyan government, and the Kenya Red Cross.
The committee will report to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
It will also work with the national and county governments to strengthen the national capacity for resilient recovery in order to protect development gains from recurring droughts.
The Secretariat of the National Steering Committee on Drought Response will be based at Harambee House Annex.
The committee will serve for a year.
