How a wedding opened up sleepy village in Marsabit to development

For a long time, Mata Arba village, nestled in Marsabit county, has always been characterised by marginalisation as a result of a skewed distribution of scarce resources.

 Here, locals feel they are on their own because accessing services such as road infrastructure, clean water and health facilities is not a walk in the park.

 This is, however, set to change for good after senior government officials on April 26 attended a wedding in the village.

Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei and other senior government officials attended the wedding of National Land Commission CEO Kabale Tache's son Abduba Jirma and his bride Guyatu Hassan.

Defence CS Soipan Tuya, Health CS Aden Duale, State Department for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands PS Kello Harsama also attended the event.

 During the event, local leaders led by Tache leveraged the presence of senior officials and appealed for tangible community development goals.

 The presence of senior government officials draws national attention to Mata Arba’s long-standing marginalisation.

Some of the key development pledges made to the locals during the event include plans to pave major roads in the region and drill a borehole for clean water access.

Other projects are upgrading of the Gadamoji Cultural Centre into a museum-standard facility, the elevation of Dakabaricha Dispensary to a level 3 hospital and the elevation of Mata Arba sublocation to full location status to strengthen local governance. Food aid was also distributed to vulnerable families.

Villagers could not hide their joy as several goodies were promised.

 Aga Galgalo Bilala, a local, said the wedding awakened the village, as this is the first time since independence that the village welcomed senior government officials.

He said the borehole will be a reprieve to women who go for kilometres searching for the commodity.

He said the road will link the village to Marsabit town and help open up the area.

 Bilala welcomed several projects in the village, saying they will benefit the local community. Marsabit county borders Ethiopia to the North, Wajir County to the East, Isiolo to the South, Samburu to the southwest and Turkana to the West.

 The county shares boundaries with Wajir and Mandera and has four subcounties; Laisamis, Saku, North Horr and Moyale.

 Marsabit is estimated to have a population of 459,785; 53 per cent are male and 47 per cent female.

 Primary clans in the county include Gabra, Rendille, Borana, Samburu, Turkana, Burji, Dassanech, Waata, Garre, Sakuye, El Molo, Konsos and Somali.

 Situated in the Chalbi Desert belt, Marsabit county is predominantly arid and semi-arid. Its communities mainly engage in pastoralism.

 However, Saku sub-county has a forest that provides arable land for cultivation and farming. Other economic activities include beekeeping and mining.

 In Kenya, 14 counties have been identified as marginalised based on various criteria, including historical discrimination and socio-economic indicators. 

 These counties are: Turkana, Garissa, Mandera, Kilifi, Wajir, Taita Taveta, Marsabit, Isiolo, Samburu, Lamu, West Pokot, Tana River, Narok and Kwale.