Thousands of Kenyans turned up with food donations for a weekend benefit concert in aid of millions threatened by a searing drought that has ravaged vast swathes of East Africa, organisers said on Monday.
Modelled after the 1984 Live Aid concert for the victims of famine in Ethiopia, the four-hour, all-Kenyan event drew more than 6 000 people and donations of more than 2 000 tonnes of food, they said.
”We have collected 12 trucks, each carrying 20 tonnes of food,” said Faki Liwala, one of the organisers of Sunday’s extravaganza at Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium where more than 20 local musicians and bands played.
Several Kenyan firms donated trucks to transport the food to Kenya’s north, where at least 40 people have died of drought-related malnutrition and associated illness since December along with thousands of livestock.
The entry fee was the equivalent of a dollar or a packet of maize meal flour and the audience was mostly composed of youths who danced energetically and sang along to their favourite songs.
”It was great to see young people come together donating their time and money and we thank God for this,” said Maloba Wesonga, a local clergyman who opened the benefit with a prayer for those affected by the drought.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared a drought national disaster on New Year’s Day and the government estimates at that up to four million people will need food aid to stave off famine by the end of this month.
The United Nations and other agencies put the number at 2,5-million but are expected to raise that figure by at least one million when they present an updated needs assessment for Kenya this week.
More than six million people in four countries across east Africa — Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia — are on the brink of starvation due to the drought, according to the United Nations. – AFP
