Vihiga – September 19th, 2024 (Public Communications and Media Relations)
The Deputy Governor, Dr John Erus, led a 13-member delegation, including the County Secretary, Peter Eripete, on a 4-day Geographical Information System (GIS) benchmarking mission in Vihiga County.
The mission, supported by theUSAID Nawiri programme, began by paying a courtesy call to the Office of the Governor of the County Government of Vihiga, H.E. Dr Wilber Ottichilo E.G.H, and his deputy, H.E. Wilberforce Kitiezo.
The purpose of the study visit was to learn how Vihiga is using the Geographical Information System (GIS) technology to aid sustainable development and governance. The team visited a number of active projects in the GIS system including the Vihiga County Referral Hospital, Lunyerere Water Plant, Mwitoko Fish Farm and Keveye Vocational training Institute.
With operationalization of the social economic modules projected in the next six months, the study tour provided an opportunity for learning about the potential, successes and gaps in the implementation of GIS in Vihiga, as one of the leading GIS users in Kenya.
The benchmarking exercise will allow the county government to properly plan and develop sustainable infrastructure to support economic growth, enhance efficiency, improve service delivery, and promote sustainable development through data-driven governance.
Dr Erus mentioned how impressive Vihiga has been in utilizing GIS to inform executive decisions and sustainable projects.
“I was very impressed from the very first day I interacted with Governor Ottichilo at how visionary he was about the future of GIS in project planning, implementation and monitoring. I always wondered would his vision be realized in an atmosphere where most people do not embrace technology automation in programs. As the 38th county to benchmark his vision, I would like to echo his leadership”.
Governor Ottichilo affirmed that having learned Turkana has already set up an equipped lab, he believes Turkana is on the right track.
“You must focus on high quality of data and fundamental datasets such as the status of the road networks, vegetation, and land cover in Turkana to be captured in great detail to inform proper decision-making,” he said.
DG Erus also continued to state, “From Lodwar to the furthest point in Turkana up north is 400 km, therefore anything that helps us to manage the implementation of the programmes and monitoring is very important to us”.
The Governor also encouraged the involvement of young people within the county for sustainability as well as making use of community-driven committees to encourage ownership and accountability.
The Deputy Governor Kitiezo disclosed that compared to the other counties before, Turkana took an in-depth benchmarking approach and proved to be very intentional on peer-learning.
“We are going to build a very special relationship and this opens doors for future engagements. We are ready to support and build synergies both ways. Having learned from you on where we can improve, we are committed to improve”.
CS Eripete affirmed how systems work well when the Governor, Deputy Governor, CS, and CECs are on top of things.
“To our partner- USAID Nawiri, the assurance we give you is before devolution, Turkana was always number one in terms of severity of drought but this has since declined attributing to the power of involving everyone in every sector towards improving service delivery. The GIS journey is also achievable with partnerships and collaborations”.
The CS also affirmed that he will steer the wheel to ensure onboarding the right champions to drive GIS delivery in Turkana. He called upon DG Erus and the resource mobilization directorate to source for funds to ensure that once the GIS modules have been launched, service delivery will run effectively.
The Chief Officer, Economic Planning, Samwel Ekitela echoed the impressive work being done in Vihiga and mentioned that after interactions with the GIS system, he looks forward to working on the limitations, stating that he feels encouraged that Turkana is not left so far behind.
“We have a lab, a system, champions and all we need is some re-alignment and backing by the senior leadership and all that has been achieved in Vihiga and even more can be replicated in Turkana”.
The Chief Officer in the Office of the Deputy Governor, Derick Epae mentioned that intentional leadership and clarity of purpose in terms of GIS in Vihiga has been evident during the visit.
“The intentionality has enabled you to utilise GIS effectively and we intend to go back and duplicate it in Turkana. We have similar facilities on the other side, and with management of costs, we can take action,” he said.
The Acting Director for Monitoring and Evaluation, John Ekaru, confirmed that most of the delegation’s expectations were met.
“Our first expectation was to purely learn everything about GIS, and we have. We appreciate the reception and exposure in how the whole GIS system works and how easily mapping can allow access to information”.
The USAID Nawiri Programme’s System Strengthening Manager, Josiah Rotino was hopeful that the lessons learned will be synthesised towards coming up with a clear way forward.
“Nawiri as a partner is willing and ready to support the implementation in Turkana. We are grateful to learn how GIS is used in decision-making and that is what we would like to see”.
The delegation included eight directors from the directorates of Monitoring and Evaluation, ICT, Resource Mobilisation, Partnerships, and Donor Coordination, and Public Communications and Media Relations.
The USAID Nawiri programme team also included the Information Systems Advisor, Seconded to the Government, Joseph Emase and Country MEL Coordinator, N’gapesur Emmanuel.
