Homa Bay, August 14, 2025. (Public Communication and Media Relations)

Turkana’s one-health approach, popularly known as Kimormor, has been hailed as a unique model of service delivery for pastoralist communities, with Deputy Governor Dr. John Erus declaring it a strategy that has placed the county on both the national and global map.

Kimormor, a special outreach that delivers an array of services to the hard to reach population has hugely contributed to inclusion of the nomadic Pastoralist services leading to improved health seeking behaviours, increased registration for identity cards and vaccinated thousands of animals, all under a multi dimensional one health approach.

Speaking to a host of partners at Conference, Dr. Erus called for increased support to sustain and expand the initiative to get more out-of-reach communities in Turkana.

“Kimormor is not just a health outreach, it is a bridge through which gaps in service delivery are addressed. Without it, many nomadic pastoralists in Turkana would remain underserved,” Dr. Erus told the partners.

He noted that IRC, KRCS, and Amref had been instrumental in supporting the programme over the years and reaffirmed the county’s openness to further collaboration.

He also hinted at plans to integrate Kimormor into the county’s peace building initiatives and cultural festivals to leverage large gatherings and cross-border networks for greater reach.

“The Governor has shown leadership by creating platforms for cross border engagements for peace building through culture and sports. The county will leverage on the platforms to strengthen Kimormor even further,” he said.

Speaker of the Turkana County Assembly, Rt. Hon. Charles Lokioto, stressed the importance of involving Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) in mobilising residents for the outreach activities.

“Given the critical role MCAs play, involving them could lead to larger turnouts and deeper grassroots engagement,” he said.

IRC Kenya Deputy Director for programs Irene Bosire, IRC Technical Coordinator for Health Programs, Chief of Party USAID Imarisha, Dr. Evans Osembo and Kenya Red Cross Society Operations lead for Kalobeyei Daniel Lagat represented their respective organizations at the side meeting.

Chief officers Janerose Tioko (Preventive health), Dr. Gilchrist Lokoel (Medical Services), Deputy Directors John Lobokan ( Monitoring and Evaluation), George Emase (Climate Change), Pauline Pusiye (Natural Resources) and Rotich Kipkorir (One health coordinator) were present too.