Mandera wants to include USAID programmes in the County Integrated Development Plan to avoid duplication of projects.
Governor Ali Roba on Tuesday urged USAID to share with county governments the programmes they are running, so they can be included in the CIDP.
He spoke in Nairobi during a meeting with officials from USAID.
USAID has picked Mandera county for support in building the capacity of youth and women entrepreneurial skills as a poverty reduction intervention.
Roba said the meeting will also help deepen public participation across the county.
"We are committed to working with USAID and other development partners to improve resilience of our people. But for this to happen, there is a need for coordination between you and the county government to enable us align our programmes with yours," the county chief said.
Roba praised USAID, saying it is an important development partner.
“We will forever remain indebted to you. You have done a lot for our people even before the advent of devolution and you continue to do so. If we pull our resources together, then we will end up impacting positively on hundreds of our people,” he said.
He, however, regretted that some embassies profile Mandera as insecure, something he said has further marginalised the border county.
“It really breaks my heart every time I hear these stories that Mandera is a terror-prone and insecure place. Whenever an incident happens, it gets a lot of coverage and sometimes the issue is blown out of proportion," Roba said.
"Sometimes it is a very minor thing. How I wish those who do so knew the damage they are causing to us. It is just not fair.”
Roba said contrary to what is reported, Mandera remains "one of the most peaceful counties, except a few isolated terror cases which mostly occur on the border with Somalia".
USAID deputy mission director Heather Schlidge said they are reviewing their programmes and will work with the 25 selected county governments in phases to build on existing activities.
Counties in phase one are Isiolo, Kajiado, Kakamega, Kisumu, Makueni, Samburu, Mombasa, Nakuru, Nyeri, Taita Taveta, Uasin Gishu, West Pokot, Nairobi, Garissa and Mandera.
Those in the second phase are Kiambu, Turkana, Busia, Bungoma, Kitui, Kwale, Machakos, Kisii, Meru and Homa Bay.
Schlidge said the phases approach will allow USAID to refine the process and adopt the lessons learned before it is rolled out to the rest of the country.
“We will continue to be development partners. Our main goal will be changing the lives and livelihood of the people in the best way we can,” she said.
