Human Rights Watch accuses the Kenyan government of inadequate response to floods

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Human Rights Watch accused Kenyan authorities Thursday of failing to adequately respond to persistent flooding that has killed more than 170 people since the rainy season began.

The New York-based rights group said the government “has a human rights obligation to prevent foreseeable harm from climate change and extreme weather events and to protect people when disaster strikes.”

The Kenya Meteorological Department sent an early warning before the rainy season began, but President William Ruto did not form a response committee until April 24. By then, nearly 100 people had died as a result of the floods.

Kenya, like other parts of East Africa, has been inundated by floods. More than 150,000 people have been displaced and live in dozens of camps.

The rights group said the government had not learned lessons from last year’s rainy season, which killed hundreds of people.

The department of meteorology had warned that the country would experience more rainfall until early this year due to the El Niño, but Ruto said in October that the country had been spared by the weather pattern.

The government announced at the time that at least 10 billion Kenyan shillings ($75 million) would be released to prepare a nationwide response. It is unclear how the funds were used and critics have accused the government of embezzlement.

Those affected by the ongoing flooding in Mai Mahiu, in the west of the country, have accused the government of a slow response. At least 45 people have died after a river flooded and destroyed homes. More than 80 people have been missing since Monday. The rubble has not yet been cleared to recover any buried bodies.

On Tuesday, the government ordered those living in flood-prone areas to forcibly move or be evacuated as more rain is forecast across the country through May.