Paedestrians struggling with floods in Mombasa last week….Photo/IP
By IP reporter
NAIROBI, Kenya
In East Africa, climate disasters arrive like clockwork. Solutions, on the other hand, seem stuck in traffic.
When floods recently displaced families across Kenya, the response was immediate—relief supplies, emergency teams and official statements filled with urgency.
Long-term planning however remained fashionably late.
Experts argue the issue isn’t just climate—it’s coordination. Policies exist. Frameworks exist. What’s missing is consistent implementation especially at local levels where it matters most.
Across the region—from Somalia to Ethiopia—the pattern repeats itself: crisis, response then a repeat.
Funding has increased, largely thanks to international climate finance.
But as always, the big question lingers: where exactly is the money going?
“Climate change is here,” one analyst notes. “Our preparedness is still on its way.”
The result? A system that excels at reacting and struggles with preventing.
Unless that changes, East Africa risks becoming less of a warning—and more of a case study in how not to handle a climate crisis.
