Nairobi, Nov. 25 -- The Kenyan government has said it will need Ksh17 billion ($140 million) between now and January to respond to the worsening drought situation in the country, estimated to affect 4.3 million people.

On Friday, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua launched the National Steering Committee on Drought Response, a special taskforce to drive a private-sector effort to mitigate the drought situation in the country in conjunction with the Kenya Red Cross. It will be composed of 15 members, mostly top executives from private and public firms and is led by Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.

President William Ruto had on Tuesday said the committee's formation was necessitated by the need to institutionalise the framework for mobilising a...