Lodwar, April 25, 2024 (Public Communication and Media Relations)
The Chief Officer for Economic planning, Samuel Ekaale said that the ongoing public participation exercise taking the form of public consultations, brings together residents and stakeholders in all the 11 Sub-counties of Turkana. He was addressing participants during the public participation exercise held at the Lodwar Township Showground.
He added that this is an opportunity to prioritize various projects that are important to the communities with the County Government’s support towards a progressive County.
Chief Ekaale stressed that the budget will give a key focus to road maintenance, pending bills, programs geared towards climate change, water supply, and construction of the Level-Five Hospital among other key projects.
During the exercise, the residents were taken through a document by technical officers from the Economic Planning Department before being allowed to prioritize their areas of interest in the specific wards or regions.
A participant from the Lodwar township ward, Calvin Lepoo mentioned that Napetet village has been left out of the proposal with no project identified for the area.
Lodwar township participants also proposed that the slaughterhouse near the showground be renovated instead of constructing a new butchery in California.
In the Kanamkemer ward, participants raised concerns that the project they had identified during the CFSP 2024 public participation was missing in the proposal. Some of the projects include the construction of a sale yard at Naperebei, feeder roads linking Kanamkemer, and a business center for differently abled artisans to do their trade.
John Nangole, a participant from the Kalokol ward noted that the proposed projects have covered the three key areas in the ward namely Kapua, Kalimapus, and Kalokol.
Participants from Kalokol recommended the renovation of the Kalokol Guest House.
The participants from Kerio Ward raised concerns that the budget allocated for the construction of Migur Dispensary was too low. Migur is an area on the shores of Lake Turkana near Marsabit and it’s highly inaccessible. Mobilization of construction materials will be a challenge hence the need to reconsider the amount allocated or the type of structure to be constructed.
County Government officials present at the exercise in Lodwar included Sub-County Ward Administrator, Turkana Central- Esther Kiyon’ga, Deputy Sub-County Administrator, Turkana Central- Patrick Nacho, CBEF member, Joseph Kebo, and Director for Public Participation- Simon Lokutan.
The County Government promotes and ensures people-centered and people-driven development as anticipated by the Constitution of Kenya. As a result, the County Government under the leadership of Governor H.E Jeremiah Ekamais Napotikan adopts and recognizes the importance of public participation.
