Turkana County Executive and Assembly will cultivate a cordial working relationship for the success of the County Government’s development agenda, area Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai has said.
In his address when he officially opened the Third County Assembly on Tuesday, Governor Lomorukai said the two arms of the County Government shared the responsibility to develop the county and had to work together for the realisation of their respective mandates.
He said: “As elected representatives of the people, we have a huge responsibility to change the lives of our people. Our duty is service delivery, regardless of political affiliation”.
“I assure the House of my full support as you execute your oversight role in the realization of our development agenda for Turkana County. We will foster a cordial working relationship with the House, through the spirit of bipartisanship, as we serve the electorate,” he added.
The Governor assured the Assembly of his support to implement the County Ward Development Fund, Act (2022) which was passed by the last assembly.
“The Act provides for the establishment of the fund to promote development in the Wards. It also provides for the development of an institutional framework to coordinate development initiatives and projects in the Wards and seeks to ensure equitable development of the 30 wards of Turkana and sets mechanisms to identify priority projects in each ward to further devolve county functions and service delivery,” he said.
On payment of pending bills, the county boss announced that he will form a task force to verify existing pending bills to ascertain the genuine ones. He said the County Government will then introduce a supplementary budget to settle the genuine pending bills.
The Governor took the opportunity to address rising insecurity along Turkana East and Turkana West sub-counties and expressed the readiness of Turkana leaders to support the government in its operation to beef up security and end banditry.
“The County Government will collaborate with the National Government in addressing insecurity and all other issues affecting residents of Turkana. There will be no unnecessary animosity between the two tiers of government. Disunity and wrangles have in the past contributed to our region being sidelined in the distribution of national resources. Never again will pointless political supremacy battles take precedence over service delivery for our people,” he said.
Other highlights of the speech include; plans for a roundtable for partner organizations to evaluate programmes and align them to the development agenda of the county; strengthening cultural events to boost cross-border peace programmes; commitment to developing quality infrastructure including road linkages at the ward level; healthcare service development including elevation of Lodwar County Referral Hospital to level six, an overhaul of ambulance fleet and establishment of Kakuma/Kalobeyei municipality.
The Governor was welcomed to the County Assembly by Speaker Christopher Nakuleu, He was accompanied by Senior County Government officials including Deputy County Secretary Robert Loyelei and a host of County Executive Committee Members. Turkana South MP Ariko Namoit and Woman Representative Cecilia Ng’itit were also present at the Assembly.
By Peter Gitonga
