After a long wait occasioned by politics and a court case, the Malaba Municipality Board has been sworn in and is now ready to start working as a fully constituted municipality.
The inauguration of the board, overseen by Deputy Governor Arthur Odera, now paves the way for the rolling-out of activities expected to transform the entity in the race to attract investors and funding from the World Bank.
Speaking to the press, the municipality’s Acting Manager Brian Abwaku, noted that it was a timely intervention for the board to assume office when the unit was grappling with a myriad of challenges that needed urgent intervention.
“The main areas of priority for the inaugural board will be to address infrastructural breakdown, especially the drainage system, now that the country is in an El Nino period,” noted Abwaku.
With parts of the municipality being in flood-prone areas, the municipality has the task of opening up drainage systems and encouraging proper dumping as a precautionary measure.
The unit has a huge task ahead to open up its doors to attract investors amid the challenges of heavy traffic and a growing population in the municipality.
The nine-member board inaugurated includes County Executive Committee Member for Lands, Housing, and Urban Development Peter Odima, Chief Officer Mercy Imoh, former Malaba Central MCA Ishmael Orodi, 2017 Malaba Central MCA aspirant Rose Idewa, and Malaba-based businessman Robert Imamai.
Others are retired School Head George Oriah, David Otieno, Nairobi-based businessman Julius Ekweny and Getrude Olaktar.
Idewa, Orodi, and Ekweny are the governor’s nominees, while Otieno represents the informal sector. Imamai is on the board to represent the interests of the private sector, while other members, Oriah and Olaktar, represent professional and neighbourhood associations, respectively.
“The municipality board has officially been sworn in, and board members are ready to start the work of transforming Malaba,” Abwaku said at the press briefing.
“Also, there is the issue of sanitation, and to address that, we have built ablution blocks, which have already been handed over to the municipality by the Malaba Water Project. We also intend to move traders who operate from roadside because we know many of them have lost lives after being run over by tracks,” he said.
In 2021, the court stopped the hiring of the board members after a section of residents of Malaba town accused the County Public Service Board of shortlisting candidates who were not residents of the municipality.
After the swearing-in of the new board, Odera called on residents of the municipality to put politics aside and support the new leadership in transforming the municipality.
“For this board to succeed in implementing the programmes of the municipality, it needs support from the community, including women, elders, and the youth,” the DG said.
The DG also said Malaba town’s infrastructure needed to be modernised in order for Malaba town to continue attracting investment.
“In these four years moving to 2027, we need to stop talking about issues of drainage for Malaba. This is one problem that should be solved once and for all so that people can do business with no disruptions,” he noted.
Malaba municipality covers 129 square kilometres and has a population of 102,000, according to the Kenya Population and Housing Census 2019 report.
It brings together the wards of Malaba North, currently represented at the County Assembly by Patrick Omanyala; Malaba Central, under Ronald Ochalu; Boniface Ekada’s Malaba South; and Amukura West, led by Boniface Erute.
The municipality’s status was gazetted on April 29, 2020, to become the second municipality in Busia under the Urban Areas and Cities Act of 2011.
Its constitution as a municipality was approved by a resolution of the County Assembly of Busia in its sitting of the second Assembly, the fourth session held on March 5, 2020.
Then Governor Sospeter Ojaamong granted the municipality status by a charter dated March 27, 2020, which came into force on April 7, 2020.
Subsequently, it was gazetted for public information in the Kenya Gazette No. 75 of April 24, 2020, incorporating Gazette Notice No. 3247 of April 7, 2020, on the commencement date of the Malaba Municipality Charter.
The municipality, which has Malaba OSBP, which is the gateway to Eastern and Central Africa, is expected to bring in tremendous resources after acquiring new status.
The Kocholia Dam project, which is financed by Korean Exim Bank, and the Ang’ololo Dam project, also financed by ADB in partnership with the Kenyan and Ugandan governments, are some of the multi-billion projects expected to benefit the municipality.
The three water projects are mega investments that are projected to turn around the economy of the region, besides residents receiving clean water and improved sewerage systems.
By Absalom Namwalo
