Kenya’s disaster profile is dominated by fires, floods, droughts, technological accidents, diseases and epidemics, as well as terrorism. 

All these disrupt livelihoods, destroy infrastructure, divert the planned use of resources, interrupt economic activities, and retard development.

In addition, those in authority have always been accused of never learning from the tragedies. Even though all the necessary laws and policies are in place, implementation and quality assurance remain a problem.

Early this year, during the March-May rainy season, floods killed over 250 people and caused damage estimated at KSh 4 billion. The heavier-than-usual rainfall pounded the country, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern. During that time, the government’s lack of preparedness was witnessed.  

Many criticised the government’s preparedness and response, stating that it failed to act promptly or adequately despite early warnings from the Kenya Meteorological Department.

In October 2023, President William Ruto wrongly stated that the country wouldn’t experience El Nino as had been predicted. It was evident that poor infrastructure and drainage maintenance and disregard for environmental regulations contributed to the scale of destruction.  

Kenya has policies and plans for disaster risk reduction, disaster response management and climate change adaptation. Additionally, the country has a National Disaster Management Unit and a Climate Change Action Plan and response strategy. Despite these policies, past and recent disastrous events illustrate that Kenya is still struggling to reduce risks, carry out adaptation measures, and respond adequately when disaster strikes.

Moreover, responses are hampered by resource and capacity restraints, weak coordination, gaps between county and national-level government measures, and asymmetry between its disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation frameworks.  

Experts are now calling upon the government to implement the National Disaster Risk Management Act, 2021, which aims to reduce disaster risks and mitigate their impact.

Following the fatal incident at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri, the Auditor-General recommended that the Ministry of Education undertake a compliance audit of schools to guarantee safety in learning institutions. Njoki Mwarumba, Academic Lead in the Disaster Management Executive Programme at Strathmore University, also highlighted the need for action, particularly in light of last week’s school fire at the academy.

Speaking on Spice FM on Tuesday, Mwarumba said that while structural mitigation exists on paper, there is zero implementation. “Lives could be saved if authorities properly assessed both structural and non-structural mitigation measures in boarding school.”

Dr Njoki Fernandez, a school health and safety consultant, said in an interview on Citizen TV on Monday evening that one of the areas that the government can do a lot is supervise and ensure that schools are safe spaces for children to learn.

“The role of government in education is to facilitate learning in terms of providing educational content. The role of the parent is to facilitate learning. One of the areas that the government can do a lot is in the area of supervision and making sure that our schools are safe spaces for our children to learn,” said Dr Fernandez.  

A report by the Office of the Auditor-General indicated that schools are ill-prepared to handle fires. The report further said there is inadequate infrastructure, limited training on fire safety preparedness, and insufficient guidance and counselling in schools.

It revealed that most schools lack the equipment to handle fire incidents. While the institutions are required to have sufficient fire extinguishers, fire alarms, and fire blankets, many of them lack mandatory evacuation maps at every entrance.

Echoing the report, Usawa Agenda Executive Director Dr Emmanuel Manyasa said schools are ill-prepared to fight fire incidents.

“We have had these incidents; unfortunately, in each one of them, we have lost lives, and unfortunately, we haven’t learned from the unfortunate incidents. Even though we have developed guidelines on school safety, schools are not living by them at all. We found that more than 70% of the schools had never done a fire drill to prepare learners on how to respond should there be a fire incident,” said Dr Manyasa during an interview on Citizen TV on Monday evening.

Early in February, two fire incidents in Nairobi raised questions about disaster preparedness, both at the national and county levels. The first incident happened at the City Stadium roundabout before a gas explosion at Mradi in Embakasi East, leading to deaths and property destruction.

“The challenge with our country is formulating policies and drawing plans but failing to implement them until another calamity occurs. Take an example of the Nithi Bridge, now onto the fire issue… implement safety policies, and we will minimise accidents,” said Agumba K’agumba on X.

Amos Kaburu, Chief Consul, Opticum Group, termed the situation a challenge to our safety ecosystem. “Policy making is the responsibility of the government; the implementation of the same lies with the government; supervision and regulation are on the part of the government.”