• Wamalwa said that monies pumped by the donor community on various projects have not adequately addressed the suffering of asal communities.
Donors, national and county governments must work collaboratively to ensure projects in arid and semi-arid areas benefit the locals, Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa has said.
Wamalwa said that monies pumped by the donor community on various projects have not adequately addressed the suffering of asal communities.
“Across the country may be found collapsed projects, a probable indication of insufficient public engagement and sharing among stakeholders now we realise that walking alone we may go fast but walking together we can go further,” he said.
Wamalwa said “uncoordinated response and defective fire-fighting” approaches that have been employed to solve asal problems have not yielded any results.
Wamalwa spoke at Governor Joseph Lenku’s Kajiado office during a meeting to prepare for an asal conference in the county in September.
Over 2000 participants from 29 counties are expected at this year's conference that will be held at Amboseli National Park.
During the conference, the counties will review each other's development performance through exhibition stalls to showcase investment opportunities and cultural diversity of asal communities.
The counties will also seek to identify emerging development gaps and create a platform for attracting private investors in the asals.
Wamalwa said that asal counties hold immense potential in energy including solar, oil and wind as well as have a high potential for irrigated agriculture, commercial livestock, and cross-border trade.
The conference is expected to cost Sh70 million that will come from the national and county governments as well as the donor community.
The conference was conceived last year in Kilifi, during the inaugural meeting of leaders from the 29 counties.
(edited by O. Owino)