The President pledged to deliver various projects to the county which voted for him in the August 2022 elections.
Isiolo Governor Abdi Hassan Guyo had presented a list of priority issues for the President last month during his visit to State House.
President Ruto pledged to ensure major roads within Isiolo county will be completed and tarmacked.
“I’m not a guest here in Isiolo, and I want to say that development in Isiolo will happen in haste,” he said.
Ruto said the road project from Mto Mulika to Kinna will not end in Garbatulla but will be extended to Modogashe.
He also noted that the construction of roads from Isiolo to Kulamawe had stalled but pledged to embark on it and extend it to Samatar in Wajir county.
“I will come back in June next month to launch this project because it is my promise to the people of Isiolo,” Ruto added.
Still on road projects, the President announced that the Lamu-Garissa road project will be extended to Merti in Isiolo and go up to Moyale.
“I heard the constructors wanted the road to be murram but I told them it needed to be converted to tarmac. I want Isiolo to get good roads in order to expand its economy.”
The delayed completion of a 200km stretch of the Lamu-Garissa-Isiolo Road could be impeding Lamu Port from finding its footing as a regional transshipment hub.
The 530km route is part of the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor project which will eventually link the new commercial port through Garissa to Isiolo and end at Lokichar in Turkana where it will join the Eldoret-Juba highway
Water pans, dams
President Ruto also pledged to fasten the construction of the proposed Isiolo dam in the Ewaso Ng’iro River.
The dam was identified by Kenya’s National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation as necessary to improve locals livelihood by providing water for domestic and livestock use, small irrigation activities, and in the future, for tourists in the proposed Isiolo Resort City.
Explaining its importance, the President said the dam will be multipurpose; a source of water for the livestock.
He noted that nationwide, 500,000 million livestock have been lost mainly in Eastern and North Eastern due to drought challenges as a result of lack of water and proper planning.
“We cannot continue losing livestock in Kenya because we are diminishing communities. This means we must invest enough resources to prevent the loss of such an amount of livestock and the equivalent amount we lose as a country,” Ruto said.
The Kenya Kwanza government also plans to build 100 mega and 1,000 small dams for irrigation, livestock, and domestic use.
The President said water harvesting, the revival of the leather industry and mitigation of the effects of climate change will transform the region.
"Our intention is that while installing water projects, we want Isiolo to move from a county that receives relief food to one that distributes," Ruto added.
Irrigation programme
The President also told Isiolo residents that irrigation programmes will be set up in order to create employment.
“We have a livestock programme and I have urged Governor Guyo to come up with a plan to ensure Isiolo irrigation scheme actually works,” Ruto said.
Last December, Guyo revealed that the process to make 290 acres available for irrigation was being finalised.
According to National Treasury, 193 irrigation projects had stalled in Sh5.5 billion budget.
To revive past irrigation schemes the Isiolo county government is setting up infrastructure for 70 acres farm in Malkadaka, 200 acres in Bulesa, and 20 acres in Ngaremara in order to begin irrigation farming.
Isiolo airport
President Ruto also announced plans to extend the Isiolo airport runway to allow planes to carry enough luggage.
He said a lot of taxpayer money was spent on its construction but it now sits like a monument due to the way the runway was built.
"This is your airport, a lot of money has been spent on its construction but it has stalled. There is nothing, it's like a monument. I have agreed that we will extend the runway so that planes can carry enough luggage. The engineers have said there is a problem which we will correct so that it can be used for the intended purpose," the President said.
He said it is his intention to make Isiolo airport a foreign exchange earner for the country, with the export of khat and meat.
"This airport should have been the one used to transport Miraa (Khat) to outside countries... I also want this airport to be used to export meat from Isiolo, Northern Kenya, and other parts of the country to Oman and other countries."
Ruto also announced plans to start daily flights to Isiolo in the next two months.
The President said he is in talks with private sector players to have the Isiolo airport start operating flights to Nairobi.
He said this will save a lot of time for residents and business people traveling to Nairobi and back.
Land compensation and ownership
Isiolo residents had accused the military of hiving off part of the community land and causing a number of deaths after planting explosives near homes during training.
Also, there were issues with title deeds and land ownership where residents did not have documents.
As a result, Ruto said he will ensure the military gets its land and also community get theirs.
“I have heard your ( Guyo) cry that your people need title deeds. Ownership of title deeds is a right to every resident and we have agreed that we will not continue to have a situation where the public is complaining about security forces,” he said.
The Preside said a team of 30 surveyors will be deployed to Isiolo and ensure that people get the land that belongs to them.
“I want to assure that before the year ends, issues of title deeds will be cleared,” Ruto added.
-Edited by SKanyara
