Lodwar, 23 September 2025 (Public Communication and Media Relations)
The County Government of Turkana has reiterated its commitment to strengthening existing municipalities and push for elevation of towns eligible for upgrade to municipality status.
Speaking during the opening of a three-day forum on Turkana Urban Areas Development Policy, County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Lands, Physical Planning and Urban Areas Management, Faith Aletea, said the initiative would expand the county’s revenue base and create platforms for public-private partnerships to transform Turkana’s economic prospects.
She noted the the county had made significant steps and concluded draft of the fire safety, waste management and land use policies in the previous engagements.
Citing a recent benchmarking visit to Makueni and Kiambu counties, Aletea said Turkana had drawn valuable lessons on mapping revenue streams and establishing governance structures to enhance the management of municipalities.
“As we embark on developing relevant policies to strengthen our municipalities, we acknowledge and appreciate the support of the World Bank-affiliated International Finance Corporation (IFC) for providing technical guidance through the process,” she said.
The CECM further emphasized that unlocking the potential of land as an economic resource required its conversion from community land to public land, adding that processes were already underway to achieve this goal.
CECM for Finance and Economic Planning, Roseline Aite, pledged her department’s support, noting that collaboration with the lands docket on revenue mapping would be key to successful implementation.
The forum, convened under the “Enhancing Land as Potential Resource” working group, brought together officials from the departments of Trade, Legal Affairs, Finance, Lands, Municipalities, Water, Environment, Public Health, Communication, Resource Mobilization, Administration, and Partnerships.
Deputy County Secretary in charge of Cabinet affair Dr. Albert Gamoe and Chief Officer for Municipality Areas Management Peter Lomorukai also addressed the forum.
