An Azimio rally in Masalani town in Ijara subcounty on Monday ended in chaos after supporters of Ali Korane and Nathif Jama clashed.
From the onset tension had been brewing with the organisers choosing to take them away from Garissa town to forestall would be clashes between their supporters.
In terms of clan matrix, the Samawadhal who inhabit Ijara constituency in the Southern part of Garissa have always acted as the swing vote.
The two other major communities are the Awdhaq, where Korane comes from, and the Aulihan of Jama. The Aulihan have formed an alliance and distributed seats among themselves.
Trouble started when Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka tried to welcome the two governor hopefuls.
However, before he could proceed to do that, the supporters started chanting their names and threw stones at each other.
The leaders left the podium as they boarded their vehicles and sped off to board the choppers to neighbouring Bura East in Fafi subcounty.
To forestall a similar scenario, Raila took charge of the meeting.
Raila promised to address issues facing the education sector, livestock sector, water, improvement of infrastructure, healthcare, extrajudicial killings and insecurity.
Insecurity has made teachers run away from the region.
To address this, Raila promised to push for a special affirmative action programme in admitting students from ASAL regions into teacher training colleges and universities to create a local, committed workforce to serve as teachers and education officers in the region.
“We will build and equip modern low-cost boarding schools in ASAL areas. We will upscale the school feeding programme to maximise student retention and completion of school,” Raila said.
“We will initiate water programmes to have all schools in the region connected to a water system.”
He promised to strengthen the formal school system and the mobile school initiatives among pastoralist communities to increase access to education.
In the livestock sector, Raila promised to formulate veterinary policies.
He promised to ensure the availability of quality feeds and supplements, breeding, improved animal health and adoption of improved livestock technologies.
Raila said he will improve market access and trade by promoting agribusiness along the livestock value chains, promoting trade in livestock and livestock products, enhancing the safety of food of animal origin and strengthening livestock marketing infrastructure and information systems.
“We will ensure emergency programmes to address drought. The response readiness will include rapid delivery of food, water and medicine to affected populations. We will ensure livestock off-take by the Kenya Meat Commission and drilling of boreholes,” he said.
To address water issues, Raila promised to invest in water infrastructure for livestock and domestic usage, promising to fastrack the completion of the Seven Folks dams’ projects.
“The people of Garissa and Tana River suffer due to floods as the current five dams of seven folks cannot control the water when there is excess rain,” he said.
Raila also addressed rallies in Dadaab.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
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