County Yet To Get It's First Tarmacked Road-Kenya’s farthest county ready for takeoff

Mandera is a County on the verge of a take-off, and the devolved government has a clean canvas on which to paint the dreams of its 1.2 million residents.

Listen to Governor Ali Ibrahim Roba: In one year, 57 health institutions across the county have staff and are operational, the bite of drought has been numbed by delivering water to affected communities, and a home-grown  conflict  resolution plan has seen to 10 straight months of peace between clans, the longest such period in years.

The list goes on: The County is about to  see  its  first  tarmacked  road  as  part of the Mandera town master plan, a unique approach to security has so far forestalled terrorist forays from across the border, and a consultative leadership forum ensures county cohesion.

Road works ahead

These are just a few of Mandera achievements in only one year of devolution, a clear commentary on the potential that the new Constitution has awakened in places far removed from Nairobi. More importantly, items in this list begin to paint a dream of where Mandera is working to go to. Five pillars anchor the Mandera vision. First, no sustainable development can occur in an environment of insecurity, Governor Roba avers. His government, working with the county political leaders’ forum, has put in place measures to supplement the Kenya Police. The benefits are already showing; businesses now can open late in Mandera town. Similarly, homegrown ways of  resolving  conflict  in  the  larger Mandera community have proven fruitful.

 

The devolution of county government to staff dispensaries, clinics and hospitals. “When we took office, the 52 health facilities were not operational except for three that operated at a 10 per cent level. In one year, we have employed 285 medical staff and reopened all of them, in addition to five new ones,” Governor Roba says. Dependable healthcare will save the county from the infamy of having the highest maternal mortality rate—3,795— in the world, and push up local living standards.

Thirdly, access to water has always been a challenge, especially during drought. This has led to deaths for both human and livestock, and drove animosity in fights for pasture. Devolved decision making on resource allocation has enabled the county government to deliver the badly needed water using bowsers on emergency basis to needy areas.

Fourthly, as is true of all modern societies, success is found in sound economics and Mandera leaders know this only too well. An investors conference is planned for April 2014, a Mandera town master plan to turn it into a green metropolis is in place, and a growth path to see the county generate 30 per cent of its annual budget in five years’ time. 

The county enjoys a bustling livestock sub-sector and arrangements are being worked out to provide enabling infrastructure so as to easily connect to international markets. “Just to show our intentions on this, we will have a 20 kilometre tarmacked road complete with greening and solar powered street lighting this year,” the Governor says.

Finally, a growth plan is incomplete without a dependable human resource and Governor Roba says there are plans in place to afford education to residents and, when the time comes, align locally provided higher education to the county’s growth priorities.