Lokichar, Turkana June 20, 2025 (Public Communication and Media Relations)
Turkana County, in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), are finalizing three key policies—on fire safety, waste management, and land use policies to unlock the economic potential of land in the region.
Technical Working Groups (TWGs), supported by IFC, have fine tuned the policies and are preparing to present them to the Cabinet through the respective CECs, the County Assembly and other stakeholders for validation before implementation.
Speaking during a two-day policy seminar in Lokichar, the leads of the respective TWGs confirmed the readiness of the draft documents, which aim to address long-standing regulatory gaps.
Phoebe Ekali, Director of Environment and team lead for the Waste Management TWG, said the proposed policy is tailored to create economic opportunities by encouraging the monetization of waste.
“We studied successful waste management models from other municipal areas and borrowed the concept of monetization. Waste presents significant opportunity for revenue generation and job creation in Turkana,” said Ekali.
She added that the draft policy moves beyond the conventional 3Rs—reduce, reuse, recycle—and incorporates a fourth R: recover.
“We have included a material recovery component, meaning future waste management infrastructure will allow for the extraction of valuable materials from waste.
This approach has been widely adopted in developed economies as an international best practise,” she noted.
Engineer Peter Long’olol, the County Fire Inspector and lead of the Fire Safety TWG, said the draft fire safety policy clearly defines stakeholder roles and prioritizes risk mitigation and public awareness.
“The policy provides for enforcement against individuals or institutions whose actions pose fire risks. It also lays out collaboration mechanisms with key agencies such as the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services (DOSH), the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), and the Department of Public Health,” he said.
On physical and land use, the draft policy identifies key challenges such as insecure land tenure, unregulated expansion, conflict over resources, and environmental degradation—issues it seeks to address through a structured framework.
The need for such policies is particularly critical in Turkana, whose entire land mass approximated to be up to 77,000 km2, the second-largest in Kenya, was historically classified as community land and thus ineligible for titling.
Devolution, however, has enabled progress, including the elevation of Lodwar and Kakuma to municipality status. Besides, the county has identified three other centers, Katilu, Kalobeyei and Lokiriama as eligible for elevation to urban centres, adding more weight to the need for a policy for proper physical planning and land use in Turkana.
David Edoket, Assistant Director for Municipal Areas, said the policy on urban areas is instrumental in aligning Turkana’s urbanization drive with national standards.
“These frameworks is not only closing regulatory gaps but also helping position the county to attract investment, manage urban expansion, and use land more productively as an economic asset,” said Edoket.
The County Government is also working closely with IFC on development of Investment promotion legal frameworks for marketing Turkana as an investment destination.
Additionally, through the Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund (KKCF), IFC has also enabled and exposed MSME owners to funding and training support, leading to growth and expansion of businesses in Turkana.
