NGOs performance dismal

Kenyans have been through hard times in the past one year.The ravaging drought that hit the country was unlike many others before. It hit hard and long. Several people died and thousands of livestock perished during what was described as Kenya's worst drought in decades. For months, the pangs of hunger bit the physique and morale of residents. Thankfully, rains have begun in the country and there is hope that the food situation will improve. It will take hardwork but the billowing clouds of dust that constantly hovered over clusters of hungry faces is now gone.

The world's media descended on Kenya albeit briefly during this period of drought. Their cameras clicked away and TV footage of the true extent of the drought was beamed via satellite to millions of homes across the world. As expected the story touched the hearts of many a Western viewer. Many of them contributed to NGOs which raised funds to help the affected in Kenya and Somalia.

However, the performance of these non-governmental organisations is wanting and raises quite a few eyebrows. During the worst phase of the drought, Oxfam was one of the organisations that highlighted the problems of the residents of Kenya's affected regions and especially the North Eastern Province. It is in this area that most of the deaths were reported and it is here that the NGOs had recorded some success in alleviating poverty.

This time Oxfam is in the dock. The organisation played a crucial role in raising awareness of the drought, even providing officials to speak to the press on the latest developments in the hard hit regions. It facilitated trips to areas where people had been most affected thus ensuring that the world did not forget these suffering people. But the organisation failed in the most important area... intervention. Oxfam literally watched as cattle collapsed and people died. They did not have the large scale operations that they have had in similar times such as the 1992 and 1995 droughts.

Only Oxfam knows why this happened. Yet just the other day they claimed that they were launching an appeal to help people in the affected regions. What were they doing when the drought was biting and hitting the region? This time they had no emergency relief programme and did not employ personnel to specifically handle this. Like many other NGOs, Oxfam will raise millions through this appeal and very little will be seen on the ground. Ask the residents of the most affected in the recent drought. Oxfam should make public their spending in the recent drought and clear all the doubts we currently have.