Isiolo County: BY EPHRAIM NJEGA: Resolving the economic challenges facing this country requires bold, visionary and futuristic solutions. One of the structural issues facing this country is on how we have settled in the country. Only a small part of the country is densely populated. This is along the Northern Corridor i.e. Mombasa-Malaba.
To deal with this issue we need to shift the country’s capital city to Isiolo/Marsabit/Samburu area. This is the most central part of the country. This will separate the commercial capital Nairobi from the capital city.
The impact of this is that it will open up large parts of the country for settlement thus ending the pressure on land in other parts of the country. It will also resolve the issues of insecurities in the north that have rendered a huge part of the country almost economically unproductive.
This geographical diversification of the country’s economic hubs will also help in risk management. The over reliance on the Northern Corridor for settlement and transportation results in concentration risks
Devolution was meant to achieve this but close to ten years down the line there is no evidence this is happening. Something more radical is needed.
Unless we make this bold move we will never realize our country’s full potential. This will also prevent future resource based conflicts which arise from high competition for the small settled land as population grows.
The new transport corridor from Lamu via Isiolo and onward to South Sudan, Northern Uganda and Southern Ethiopia will create new economic opportunities for the country.
If we are to transform this country we need to elect visionary and selfless leaders who can think about the future of the country many decades ahead. We also need to deal with the issue of ethnic divisions which can make it harder for decisions like these to be implemented.
I’m wondering why she kept supplying even whilst not being paid?