President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday condoled with families that had lost loved ones as a result of Cyclone Idai but a section of Kenyans was not pleased by his kind gesture.
Netizens accused the Head of State of turning a blind eye to the hunger situation back home and urged him to focus more on problems in his country.
“I condole and pass my message of encouragement to the people of Southern Africa who are suffering devastation from Cyclone Idai.
“To my friends Presidents @FNyusi, @edmnangagwa & Peter Mutharika, Kenya stands with you and your people as you mourn and recover from the destruction,” read the President’s message.
Here are some of the reactions:
“I pass my message of encouragement to the people of Kenya who are suffering devastation due to runaway corruption. To our friends @DCI_Kenya, @EACCKenya & @ODPP_KE , upright Kenyans stand with you as you gallantly trace & recover assets acquired from the proceeds of corruption.”
“Mr. president you have forgotten several Kenyans who have died from hunger and drought in turkana, baringo and some parts of this country, or Kenyans are children of a lesser God???”
“Charity begins at home”
“Why ignoring those who are dying of hunger in Turkana and Baringo”
“So u act like everything is right in Kenya”
“Mr @UKenyatta, are we living in 2 different Kenya? How come you aren't touched by the plight of Turkanas back at home? Do you want to feign that all is well? Noooo... Cyclone is a natural disaster; its beyond us but Turkana is a failure on your part.”
According to some government officials, the drought, which has mainly affected Turkana and Baringo counties, has left several people dead but on Wednesday, Deputy President William Ruto maintained that no Kenyan has died of starvation.
Speaking during the Inter-Professional Summit in Mombasa, the DP noted that there is a lot of fake news regarding the drought although he admitted that Kenya is a ‘water-stressed’ country.
“There is a lot of fake news about what is happening. We have been told that 11 people have died but that is not true. No one has died as a result of the drought and we are working round the clock to ensure that no one dies of hunger,” he said.
On government officials who were reporting deaths, the DP added, “These are people taking a serious matter involving human life and playing around with it. It is true that, as a nation, we know where we are, as 84 percent of our country is arid and semi-arid. We are generally a water-stressed country.”