County that remains a backwater village

Kenya: Mwatate is a village town, which by a stroke of luck became the Taita-Taveta County headquarters, continues to slumber and no one seems to be in a hurry to shake her awake, writes PASCAL MWANDAMBO

A visitor to Mwatate town may be forgiven for asking: “How far is Mwatate town from here?”

Welcome to Mwatate, a sleeping giant not in a hurry to wake up and rise to the occasion. Found in Taita-Taveta County, this small dusty town on the Voi-Taveta Road has, for years, remained a backwater village, despite its immense development potential in mining, tourism and large-scale farming, especially sisal growing.

Mwatate town can pass for a village in other parts of the country. Here is a town without a proper water and sewerage system, no streets and lanes, nor streetlights.

What is considered the central business district is a bungled mess of brick and mud structures, with storey buildings dwarfing tiny kiosks and shops.

In a nutshell, Mwatate lacks a structural development plan. This is a major challenge to planners, especially after the tiny town was picked as the Taita-Taveta County headquarters in March 2011.

Vote

Taita-Taveta leaders meeting in Wundanyi town, at that time, had a charged debate over the county headquarters and after no consensus was reached between Voi and Mwatate, voting was conducted, with Mwatate getting three votes against Voi’s one vote.

However, three years down the road, Mwatate has nothing to show for being chosen as the county headquarters.

Among the burning issues militating against the development of the county headquarters is lack of land as most of the land is occupied by the a sisal estate, which holds more than 100,000 acres of prime land.

Attempts by a section of local leaders to buy off part of Singila-Majengo village to put up county headquarters was resisted by the more than 3,000 squatters in the area who claim the villages are their ancestral land taken away by force by the sisal farm 20 years ago.

“We could not allow the sisal farm to sell land in Majengo and Singila villages to put up county headquarters as there is a simmering dispute between the squatters and the sisal farm over ownership. We are not against the county headquarters being put up in Mwatate, but the Government should get land elsewhere,” says Mnjala Mwaluma, the secretary of Mwasima Mbuwa Welfare Association, which has been fighting for the squatters’ land rights in Mwatate. Mwaluma says Singila-Majengo should revert to its rightful owners unconditionally.

After matters reached ahead at Singila-Majengo villages, an alternative land measuring 5,000 acres was earmarked at Mwatunge area where the county headquarters are to be built.

 But other than the swearing-in ceremony of the Governor John Mtuta Mruttu on the Mwatunge grounds recently, not a single brick or grain of sand or gravel has been dropped in the area to indicate the coming up of county offices soon.

Mruttu, his entire cabinet and the county assembly, are currently being housed in Government offices in Wundanyi town, a move skeptics see as a political manoeuvre to eventually transfer the county headquarters to Wundanyi.

Speaking during the official opening of the governor’s office in Wundanyi, local MP Thomas Mwadeghu, said the governor should not worry about getting land to put up county offices.

“If things do not work well in Mwatate, we in Wundanyi are ready to provide land for this noble cause,” said Mwadeghu at the time.

And with the construction of the Voi-Mwatate Road nearing completion, there is a high possibility of some government officers living in Voi and commuting to Mwatate, about a half-an-hour’s drive.

In terms of housing, the town does not have a plan to guide it. Currently, houses go for between Sh500 and Sh10,000 per month, but the quality is wanting.

A plot measuring 100 feet by 50 feet goes for between Sh100,000 and Sh500,000 while an acre in the town goes for up to Sh1.5 million.

At the Mwachabo Settlement Scheme, an acre goes for about Sh50,000 while at the gemstone-rich area of Kamtonga, an acre can goes for more than Sh20 million.

Development bottlenecks, however, cannot water down the economic potential of Mwatate, especially in the mining sector.

The area continues to produce some of the most precious gemstones, including rubies and garnets. According to the chair of the Coast Chapter of the Kenya Chamber of Mines Chadi Lewela, the Government should put up a gemstone-cutting centre in Mwatate for value addition of the minerals, which will generate jobs for the locals and reduce exploitation of local miners by middlemen.

Lewela’s views are echoed by Mwatate County Representative Erasmus Mwarabu, who says mining in Mwatate needs to be put on proper footing as a major economic sector in the area.

On the other hand, Mwatate, which borders the Tsavo West National Park, has borne the brunt of human-wildlife conflicts with residents being maimed and killed by marauding game year-in-year-out without proper compensation.

Areas such as Mwachabo, Mwashuma, Bura, Kwa-Mnengwa, Msorongo and Maktau have borne the brunt of this unending problem, threatening to reverse the gains made from tourism in the area.

Tourist facilities that have contributed to the growth of the hospitality industry in Mwatate include Sarova Taita Salt Lick Game Lodge, Lion Bluff Lodge and Lualenyi Safari Camp.

Mwatate MP Andrew Mwadime says the Government should come up with a lasting solution to the human-wildlife conflict in the area.

“As I talk, a person is nursing injuries after being attacked by an elephant in my constituency. This is inhuman and unacceptable,” says Mwadime.

The town and its environs also suffer persistent water shortages with women and children suffering endlessly looking for the rare commodity.

The only major source of water is Mwatate Dam. However, this problem might ease after the commissioning of a water project in the town by the Taita-Taveta Water and Sewerage Company put up at a cost of Sh18 million.