A section of members of the Garissa county assembly and community leaders from the areas where the Kenya Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (KDRDIP) is undertaking development projects, have expressed their satisfaction with the projects’ implementation process, terming it a ‘game changer’.
The project, which is funded by the government, with a credit from the World Bank is aimed at improving access to basic social services, expanding economic opportunities, and enhancing environmental management in the refugee-hosting communities in Garissa, Wajir, and Turkana counties.
This week, the World Bank team led by Matthew Stephens and his deputy Annette Omollo, with officials from the KDRDIP led by its manager Wilfred Omari toured several project sites to assess and review their implementation progress ahead of the project’s deadline in December this year.
At the Haji Adan village in Abakaile ward in Dadaab Sub County, the residents have a reason to smile after the project drilled and equipped a solar powered borehole to serve all her 150 households.
Speaking at the borehole site, Abakaile MCA Hajir Mohamed Dahiye said that the KDRDIP project had challenged him to work more and provide development services for his people.
“Coming down to the people and having them form committees to identify and implement the projects is a very unique thing. This is the first time we are seeing this kind of active involvement of community members to development projects,” Dahiye said.
“The area I represent has 15 centres. The KDRDIP has done several projects in each of those centres so this is a God-send project. We need the county governments, and the MPs through CDF to learn from this project and bring services close to the people this way,” he added.
At the Benane health centre in Lagdera Sub County, the women will no longer have to travel for 186 kilometers through a rough road to access maternity services at the Garissa referral hospital.
Here, the project has constructed and fully equipped a maternity wing, three staff quarters inside the hospital and fenced the area at a total cost of Sh15.6 million.
According to the implementation committee chairperson of the maternity project Ali Hassan, an average of between 120 and 150 women give birth at the facility annually.
Other project sites toured by the teams include the Afwein primary school where KDRDIP constructed an administration block and renovated 5 class rooms, Modogashe girls’ secondary school who got a multi-purpose hall, a library and class renovation and the Modogashe town lighting project.
The teams also visited several livelihood groups who received grants of Sh500,000 to set up business.
KDRDIP is a Sh10 billion credit by the World Bank to the Government of Kenya and an additional grant of Sh800 million by the Danish Government (DANIDA).
By Erick Kyalo
