National Government Affairs Action Fund (NGAAF) director Ruth Bendera distributes New year gifts including food staff to residents of a remote village in Bamba ward, Ganze Sub County in Kilifi County on Wednesday, December, 31, 2026. By Ben Okweingoti. 
By Ben Okweingoti | Kilifi
Hundreds of residents in the remote, drought-prone village of Mtsemerini, Bamba ward, welcomed the new year with renewed hope after receiving critical food donations from the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF).
The aid was delivered personally by NGAAF Director Ruth Bendera, who, accompanied by family members, traveled to the area after learning of the severe food shortages preventing the community from celebrating. The region has been ravaged by prolonged drought and famine.
Speaking during the distribution exercise, Bendera framed the intervention within the context of national unity, thanking President William Ruto and the late ODM leader Raila Odinga for the Broad-based Government initiative. She credited the arrangement with fostering peace, unity, and creating job opportunities across the country.
Bendera also highlighted long-term solutions emerging from government plans. "President Ruto, through the broad-based government, has planned a major dam in Galana Kulalu and another in Ganze," she stated. “These projects will enable residents of Malindi and Ganze to practice irrigation farming and finally mitigate the devastating effects of drought.”
She pointed to Kilifi County's tangible benefits from the political arrangement, including the appointment of Fikirini Jacobs as Principal Secretary for Youth and the Creative Economy, as well as other cabinet and senior national government posts.
"It is through this broad-based arrangement that our son Fikirini landed a lucrative government appointment," Bendera added. “We must support this government even beyond 2027 so that more of our people can be absorbed into senior positions.”
The director issued a call to residents, urging them to reject leaders who champion partisan interests over the unifying broad-based government.
The donation was met with profound gratitude from the beneficiaries. Japhet Charo, a resident of Mtsemerini village, thanked Bendera for her generosity. "She chose to help us, the vulnerable families, so that we could also celebrate the New Year," Charo said, capturing the relief felt across the community.
The event underscored both the immediate humanitarian needs in arid regions and the political narratives shaping development promises as Kenya moves into the new year.
