Kenya’s Aid Irony

Nairobi is the aid hub for East Africa and the Horn. The city is filled with charity workers flitting to Somalia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and so on. Its vast United Nations complex is reckoned to be one of the biggest contributors to the city’s economy.
But when it comes to tackling a crisis in Kenya, it seems that everything is falling apart.
The Kenya Red Cross is desperately overstretched. The government is keen to reduce the visibility of the UN and international aid agencies on the ground. And many charities have imposed tough security restrictions on their staff. As a result they all seem to be working in the same areas, squabbling over who does what.
The result is thousands of people stranded and sleeping rough lacking simple things like plastic sheeting to keep them dry and blankets to keep them warm. The tragedy is that this is happening in Kenya which must have more aid workers per square mile than almost any other country.