MOMBASA– A meeting called by leaders from the North Eastern region in the country agreed to strategise on how to boost development initiatives in the region with calls for unity of purpose dominating.
The three day meeting in Mombasa by lawmakers and selected professionals from the region examined woes facing various sectors of the economy in the region that has been described as isolated by previous regimes in development.
The meeting, christened The North-Eastern Parliamentary Group (NE-PG) brought together leaders from Wajir, Garissa and Mandera Counties.
Patron of the group and Dadaab MP Farah Maalim said the gathering aimed to forge a unified front among the region’s political leaders, professionals and opinion leaders.
“Our shared objective is to chart a collective path towards addressing the pressing challenges facing the region.
For over 60 years, our region has been consciously excluded from the broader national development agenda,”said Maalim.
In his detailed explanation, Farah noted how the Sessional Paper No. 8 of 2012 from the Ministry of Northern Kenya underscored the chronic neglect that the region has suffered, detailing the systemic underdevelopment, poor infrastructure and lack of basic services.
“However, despite various commitments, successive Governments have failed to implement meaningful investments in North Eastern, perpetuating the historic marginalization. The consequences of this neglect are stark: widespread poverty, poor health outcomes, inadequate educational facilities, minimal economic opportunities and lack of critical infrasturture,” decried Farah.
Following a three day extensive discussion and consultation among stakeholders, the leaders reiterated their intention to harness collective efforts in calling for action and; demanding for a comprehensive analysis and audit of the 85 percent national government sharable revenue.
“This is critical to understanding the extent of resource allocation and ensuring that our region receives its fair share of national funding. We shall institute mechanisms for continuous monitoring and evaluation of the progress made in addressing the region’s challenges, ensuring transparency and accountability in the use of resources allocated for development,” Maalim said.
The leaders now want to develop a comprehensive masterplan for the North-Eastern region that aligns with national development goals while addressing the unique challenges and opportunities in Wajir, Garissa and Mandera counties.
“This masterplan will serve as a strategic blueprint for economic growth, infrastructure development and social progress. The aim of this masterplan is to come up with a sessional paper that shall guide and shape The National Policy of North Eastern Kenya to realize our full potential,” said Fafi lawmaker Salah Yakub.
The leaders also called on President William Ruto’s administration to remove the annuity program from the Horn of Africa Gateway Development Project and engage other partners to finance the sections of Modogashe-Samatar and Rhamu-Mandera. ” Also the government should fastrack the construction of the missing links such as Moyale – Wajir, Moyale – Mandera via Takaba, Garissa- Liboi and security roads like Mandera – Lafey – EL Wak- Liboi – Lamu Circuit.”
In their view, the government should further construct roads linking one constituency to the other.
“We are committed to maintaining a unified approach and amplifying our voices in addressing the challenges facing our region,” added Yakub
North Eastern leaders concluded a three-day conference in Mombasa, issuing an 11-point agenda for the government. https://t.co/Vfjy7O7jAU pic.twitter.com/v4cLXXk37E
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They additionally promised to continue engaging actively with the national government and other key partners to advocate for increased investments in crucial sectors such as infrastructure, water, energy, security, education, healthcare, and climate resilience.
“Appreciating our homogeneity, we restate that the residents of the North East are a single ethnic community – the Somali. We affirm that any other recorded reference or characterization by the central bureau of statistics and registrar of persons is a mischaracterization and identity misperception with a singular purpose to disenfranchise the Somali community,”said Eldas lawmaker Adan Keynan.
They asked the relevant agencies to immediately correct what they termed as anomalies.
On insecurity and extremism, they recognised that insecurity and violent extremism have severely hampered the region’s growth. “We will work with security agencies, civil society, and local communities to promote peacebuilding efforts and enhance security in the region.”
The leaders too recognised the growing threat of climate change, we will champion initiatives aimed at mitigating its effects, including sustainable land use, water resource management, and investment in renewable energy and fundraising efforts to counteract the challenges .
They vowed to lobby for increased investment in the livestock sector with demand for immediate enactment of the Livestock Bill 2024 to establish the Livestock and Livestock Products Marketing and Development Authority and the Kenya Livestock Research Organization and increased budgetary allocation to the livestock sector and increased access to markets.
They promised to engage the national and county governments with a view to ensuring that the residents of North Eastern are all covered through a government financed medical insurance programme. Their reason for this is to not only relieve the ever-ballooning medical costs but also save funds to address emergent household needs.
“Further, we seek for improvement of mobile phone connectivity and fibre optic infrasturture to deploy modern technology to address healthcare challenges,” said Keynan.
They are also vouching for increased access to water by constructing one Mega Dam for each county and a medium sized dam for each Constituency in the region.
“The Mega Dams cost at least 20 Billion Shillings each and the medium sized dams costing at least 600 Million shillings.”
In the front of energy, the leaders are demanding immediate extension of the national grid from Garissa Town to cover the whole of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera Counties. Develop renewable energy infrastructure in the region especially solar and wind power plants given the abundant availability of solar and wind in the region.
In roads and infrastructure, they are calling for urgent and immediate completion of the Horn of Africa Gateway Project – The Isiolo to Mandera Road, which they argued needs to be fast-tracked and the construction of the missing links such as Moyale – Wajir, Moyale – Mandera via Takaba, Garissa- Liboi and security roads like Mandera – Lafey – EL Wak- Liboi – Lamu Circuit.
“Additionally, the further
construction of Constituency inter- linking in North Eastern.”
Mandera Woman Representative Umulkher Kassim decried how the region faces huge shortcomings in human capital development with over (851,045) children out of school due to insufficient infrastructure and security related challenges.
“We demand that the Teachers Service Commission deploys all the teachers who have been trained and are currently jobless in the North Eastern region,” said Kassim.
She also said that they have jointly resolved to strengthen adult education programs and revive low cost boarding schools.
