- Jama last week upgraded Bura town into a municipality, making it the third town
- The county is inhabited by three major clans namely the Awlihan, Samawadhal and the Awdhaq
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
An MCA in Garissa county has criticised the lack of dynamism in the formation of municipalities' board members in the county.
Holugho MCA Adow Omar said the current boards are formed by members of dominant clans in the municipalities.
He said the situation will derail development of the municipalities.
“From where I sit we should not expect much from these municipalities in terms of development and growth because of how the boards are formed," Omar said.
"We should have had clan dynamism and not a situation where the dominant clan that comes from the specific area forms the entire board."
The county is inhabited by three major clans namely the Awlihan, Samawadhal and the Awdhaq.
He challenged Garissa Governor Nathif Jama to ensure that the newly created three municipalities are fully operationalised.
Omar asked Jama to ensure that all steps are executed to fully operationalise the municipalities.
Jama last week upgraded Bura town into a municipality, making it the third town to be elevated after Masalani and Dadaab towns.
He said the upgrade was to attract donors to develop the towns.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Omar urged the executive to release Sh50 million allocated to Garissa, Masalani and Daadab municipalities by World Bank.
"Among the requirements for the municipalities to access the requisition money from World Bank, is that the governor includes devolved functions through a memo that has to be signed by the governor or the county secretary. Unfortunately this has not been done,” he said.
Garissa municipality was expected to get Sh20 million, Masalani Sh15 million and Daadab Sh15 million for administrative and other board activities.
“We want to see a proper functioning municipality. We are looking forward to a situation where the executive will fully support municipalities,” he said.
“The assembly did its legislative role by enacting the Cities and Urban Act. The remaining part is execution and service delivery by the executive arm."
He urged Jama to improve infastructure in Early Childhood Education centres.
“Staffing is still not adequate. I have 18 centres in my ward and some of them are being taught by form 4 students. Mufti, Doi, Tumtish ECD centers all do not have ECD teachers,” he said.
Omar also took issue with lack of enough medical personnel at the Holugho hospital saying that the Level 4 facility does not have a medical doctor.
He said the hospital was struggling to store vaccines and antibiotics due to lack of electricity and a generator.
“Let us be honest with each other, the health situation in many Subcounties is still wanting," Omar said.
“I would wish to tell the governor to kindly get down to business and serve the people of Garissa who overwhelmingly voted for him. We should not be talking about issues of lack of water, lack of enough teachers and lack of proper healthcare."
In August, Jama held celebrations to earmark his achievements since his reelection.
He used the occasion to outline some of the legacy projects he hopes to complete before he leaves office.
This is his second term after a landslide victory on August 9 last year.