For once, forgotten north frontier towns bask in development

One of the joys of latter day Kenya is that it is now possible to crisscross most of the country on fairly good roads. But the biggest highway shocker is the 550 km stretch from Nanyuki to the Kenya-Ethiopia Border at Moyale.

Having had the misfortune of punishing my vehicle through this stretch of road pre-tarmac, I was delighted to recently hit the road in its new form.

When I had travelled before, one needed a whole day to get to Marsabit, sleep over, then take the treacherous bandit prone route to Moyale, mandatorily accompanied by security forces in some sections.

The shame of it all was to get to Kenya’s dusty Moyale and find Ethiopia’s Moyale, just across the border, was a smart town with highly developed infrastructure. This shame is no more. The pleasant surprise commences at Isiolo.

Once a pastoral outpost that existed to generally serve greater Meru, Isiolo is now a bustling town complete with a new international airport. It is however clear that the town is struggling under the weight of fast but unplanned growth.

Doubtless, the vibrancy is a salute to the industry of the town’s residents. It must be said that the last Isiolo county government was a letdown. Indeed, crossing the county through the county-maintained backroads towards Meru, one can tell as soon as you get to Meru County.

The potholes immediately come to an end. But I digress. Until the other day, the tarmac ended at Isiolo. Now, road signs celebrate the new highway that passes through Laisamis and drops one in Marsabit.

If you are the adventurous kind, you could branch off after Laisamis and drive for about 200km of good murram road to Loyangalani where some investor has put up a huge wind farm capable of sorting out most of our power needs. My counsel however is that you wait till June for the Turkana-Marsabit cultural festival in Loyangalani. I guarantee you it will be worth your while.

Until recently, Marsabit town had zero tarmac. It was a dusty outpost reminding one of the American frontier towns; missing only a sheriff with well worn rifles. One now drives into Marsabit through a town-wide dual carriageway. While previously one would have to be content with basic, though friendly, boarding and lodging, the town boasts several hotels of good standing. Whatever you do, don’t miss the nyama (meat) in this town, it is one of the best places to sample a good local steak.

And for those that have interests in farming, Marsabit is an agriculturally productive area with cool climate and good soils. I got several offers of “mbulotis” in my night in town. These two towns, Isiolo and Marsabit, tell yet another story of possibilities that devolution promises.

On the one hand devolution in these previously forgotten regions has sparked a new entrepreneurial spirit as local investors ingest capital to serve the new local middle class, be they MCAs, CECs, COs and all the other reasonably well paid county government bureaucracy.

At another level, the local talent that has come to serve these nascent governments is impressive. Every time I spend time with them I am left wondering where all these dynamic, energetic vision filled young professionals would be if we were still a heavily centralised system.

The final stretch in this journey is the Marsabit-Moyale section. One lands in Moyale in just over three hours, a journey that previously took a day. Moyale is slowly waking up and fortunately peace has returned.

One hopes peace will stay, especially with the rumblings of strife across the border. Sadly, we are already hosting refugees from Ethiopia. For these previously forgotten lands, there is tremendous hope. Kenya’s history of development has been closely associated with infrastructure starting with the Mombasa-Kisumu Railway.

We have a new reality. In another 30 years, these new frontiers will boast new towns similar to today’s Nakurus, Kisumus and Eldorets. So while we have many shortcomings as a Nation, driving from Nanyuki to Ethiopia, I jivuniad kuwa Mkenya (was proud to be Kenyan).