Two held for famine aid theft

2006-02-02 21:36

Nairobi - Kenyan police this week arrested two people on suspicion of stealing medicine meant for famine victims in drought-ravaged northern Kenya, officials said on Monday.

The pair - a nurse and a watchman - were arrested as they attempted to smuggle a box of medicine from a government hospital in Wajir town on Wednesday, said the region's police commander Julius Katili.

"We caught them at they tried to smuggle a box full of medicine that was meant for patients with drought-related diseases," Katili told AFP by phone from the region.

The region lies in one of the worst-hit areas of northeast Kenya where at least 40 people, mainly children, have died since December of drought-related causes.

In addition, medics in the facility have been complaining of loss of essential medicine in the recent months, putting scores of patients in danger, he added.

As many as four million Kenyans are in need of urgent food aid to stave off starvation and famine due to the drought, which the government has declared a national disaster.

The United Nations estimates that up to 11 million people in four east African countries - Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti - are on the brink of starvation.

- AFP