Nawoitorong and Nakwamekwi villages within Lodwar municipality have no land for construction of the new markets infrastructure being planned as a result of land grabbing.
The municipality Board Chairperson Christine Tattoi led the other colleagues in the Board to send a stern warning to those who have grabbed public land to desist from the act and surrender the land.
“Those private developers who have grabbed and encroached on any public land within the municipality, should surrender voluntarily or otherwise, we will reclaim it legally,” said Tattoi.
The Municipality Board, while engaging the public during the quarter two public engagement forum, the area residents challenged the Municipality management to prioritize construction of new Napetet and Canaan markets, while completing the California market upgrade before the end of the current financial year.
As part of major investment plan in the Municipality earmarked for the New Year, Board chair informed the participants of the many consultative public engagement meetings to create awareness to Lodwar residents to offer land to government for the construction of affordable housing to all, as envisioned by the national government.
On behalf of other Board Members, Tattoi assured the participants that the Board is committed and dedicated to ensure the service delivery within Municipality is improved to the required standards to benefit the Lodwar residents.
“This team and I, will work with diligence to ensure you get the services you deserve to better your lives, he said.
Residents drawn from the villages in Kanamkemer and Township Wards have asked Lodwar Municipality to prioritize investing in market infrastructure and solar-powered street light projects in the New Year 2023.
It was revealed that the current Napetet market is owned by a local community based organization, Napetet Development Organization (NADO).
The participants from Township agreed, it was time Napetet gets a public market to accommodate the increasing number of traders in the area.
On Carlifonia market, Julia Ikimat from Carlifonia village, said the market should be completed as its delayed completion was hampering services to the entire Township residents.
Administrator for Napetet village, Kelvin Leppo resolved to hold a consultative public baraza in January 2023 for the community to allocate land for the new market.
On Canaan (Kanamkemmer) market, the residents acknowledged the availability of the land for the intended purpose. On the same, the Municipality management resolved that in January, 2023, land surveyors will move with speed to demarcate the land to allow other plans to take place immediately.
Municipality Manager Esther Kiyonga said that all 14 critical sites in Township and Kanamkemer, where solar-powered street lights were stolen and vandalized, following the inspection report by Directorate of Energy will be replaced and maintained to beef up security and increase hours of doing business in those areas.
She added that those additional areas mapped for additional solar-power street lights like in Canaan, Methewan and other key strategic areas will be installed and maintained.
The public engagement forum meetings are important and serve as a link between the public and Municipality management for project planning, implementation and monitoring within the Municipality.
The objective of such meetings is geared towards creating awareness, engaging the public and seeking their considered opinion on any given project before, during and after execution.
The Board members who moderated the forum included Rev. Bonface Lokuruka (vice chair), Moses Mariao (Member), Chris Erukudi (Member) and Ambrose Merinyang (Member).
By Peter Gitonga
