A day after his government ordered troops to the affected areas to assist in the distribution of much-needed food and water supplies, Kibaki called on Kenyans and the international community to meet a 100-million-dollar (84-million-euro) shortfall in money needed to buy and distribute aid.

"To meet this gap, I am therefore appealing to the Kenyan public and development partners to come forward and make a contribution to this noble cause," he said in a statement released by his office.

"As we celebrate Christmas, let us remember those of our people who are experiencing food and water shortages," Kibaki said, amid dire warnings that the current number of those in need will nearly double to 2.5 million by February as the effects of chronic drought in the affected areas worsen.

While Kenya has sufficent supplies of maize, beans and other food stuffs to cover the needs of those now at-risk, he said "the population in need continues to increase due to the rapidly worsening conditions" and cash is needed to buy and distribute the supplies.

In addition, he said the government needed non-food items like powdered milk, nutritional supplements and livestock fodder.

Kibaki's statement was released as Kenyan newspapers for a second day featured photos of malnourished children and rotting animal carcasses amid conflicting reports about the severity of the situation that some predict may result in famine.

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