Be it war on terror, International NGOs and governments angling for credit and local leaders jostling for attention on the famine war front - it is double tragedy for famine victims. Donors come with set standards on what is good for their constituents; local leaders set their own standards on what will keep them in power - the starving live long enough to face famine again. This must stop. 

It is clearly emerging that the major culprit in the hunger ravaging most parts of The Horn of Africa is competing interests. Players in the competing interests are influencing both local and foreign policy and breeding exclusionary policies that deliberately starve certain sections of the population.  

The World Food Programme, keen to report set targets by donor countries is shoving aside authorities in recipient regions, hence clashing with set targets in recipient countries. Food distribution efforts in Turkana for example, have been hindered by what David Kinyonge, Chairperson of Turkana Municipal Council attributes to the World Food Programme's alleged refusal to partner with the local leaders. Local politicians keen to seize the moment and distribute the food as a bribe to voters are putting in much effort to frustrate the food distribution drive if it does not work within their scheme. The World Bank in its forensic audit of the Arid Lands and Resource Management Project in Northern Kenya, while confirming that relief projects are a gold mine to graft lords in both the food distributing agencies and receiving countries has not been keen to change the status quo. 

While food relief is agreeable in the short term, there is need for African governments and donor nations to come up with a clear mechanism that can hold human culprits to account. Unless the causative effects are pinned on people, (both local and international) - famine will continue to ravage populations in Africa.