Residents relinquish land for airport, schools

Mandera Governor Ali Roba inspects land volunteered by locals for the construction of an airport at Takaba in Mandera West Constituency.

Residents of Mandera West Constituency have agreed to give up land for construction of an airport, schools, stadium and county government offices after a successful public participation.

The exercise, conducted in Takaba for three days, saw Takaba community cede land for a slaughterhouse and sub-county offices in order to bring services closer to the people.

Governor Ali Roba joined elders, women, disabled persons, youth and national government officials to find an amicable solution to the matter.

Roba, accompanied by officials of his administration, camped in Takaba Township for four days as he engaged the public on how to bring services closer to them and the importance of having public spaces for social amenities and government services.

Devolving services

“Mandera County is committed to devolving services from the headquarters to sub-counties and the wards. I want to thank the people of Takaba for mutually agreeing to give land for these important projects that will impact lives and create investment opportunities,” said Roba.

The county government has been seeking views from the public on how to acquire land for sub-county offices, airport, public utilities such as schools, a slaughterhouse and stadium.

“It has been a fruitful engagement with the people of Mandera West Constituency, it will go along way in bringing critical services closer to the people,” said governor Roba as he addressed elders and national government officials.

Roba clarified that it was not an exercise to recover grabbed parcels of land as reported in section of social media.

Critical installation

“After successful public participation, we will now bring in planners to map out the urban area and see how to locate public utilities and services in strategic and accessible way,” he said.

Area Deputy County Commissioner Kipkoech Labatt asked residents to look at the advantages of having government services closer to them.

“An airport is a critical security and life-saving installation. It takes two days to travel by road to Nairobi and just two hours by flight. Let us support the county and national government in bringing these services nearer to you,” said Mr Labatt.