A lot is being said regarding the achievements realized under the leadership of Governor Abdi Guyo who took the reigns of power just a little under a couple of years.
Still two months shy of his administration’s second anniversary, there is no denying that Isiolo has changed, and that for the better.
The lies being propagated by the area senator and her army of propagandists read DIB or whatever it’s called has never had any basis to it other than misinformation meant to achieve some political ends.
However, the senator and her legion cannot change the facts especially when misinforming and misinterpreting is their go-to modus operandi.
The gains brought about by Governor Guyo are written in the hearts and minds of the people of Isiolo County and no lies,blackmail or witch-hunt concocted by folks who have now been christened ‘saboteurs’ and rightfully so, can alienate the governor from his electorates.
They still hold him dear for unshackling them from years of bondage that have been brought about by poor leadership and leadership wrangles that have had such adverse effects on the development of the people of Isiolo County socially, economically, and politically.
I shall try my best to outline the key development initiatives that have been undertaken by Gov. Guyo’s administration in these past one year and 10 months since taking the steering wheel of this devolved unit.
Health Sector Improvement
The health department is unarguably one of the most critical sectors within the devolved system. Building on the several measures already put in place by his predecessor, Governor Kuti, Gov. Guyo has ensured that our hospitals and health centres are well-stocked with medicines and all the necessary equipments and paraphernalia required for a seamless healthcare provision.
In addition, the construction of a new Accident and Emergency Unit has been completed and is only awaiting operationalization. This facility will cater to casualty, ICU, HDU, theatre, orthopedics, records and customer care centre.
The issues raised on the state of the mortuary at Isiolo County are neither here nor there. Gov. Guyo met a facility that has been serving the local population since the construction of the hospital some thirty years ago.
As it is, the contractor is on site and the construction is ongoing. The facility has better capacity and will be good to go once the contractor completes the construction and hands it over to the county government. It was therefore surprising to see senators playing politics with matters even as critical as this.
Water-Related Issues Solved
You could say that water provision is one of the most critical areas of interest in Isiolo County. More than a decade since the devolved units came into place, various areas of Isiolo County was still reeling from shortage of clean water. These areas include Sericho, Malka Daka, Charri, Cherab and even certain locations in Isiolo Central.
Gov. Guyo, in line with his promise made to the people of Isiolo County during the campaign period set out working on this perennial matter by allocating enough for the drilling of boreholes at critical places around the county which have been a reprieve to the people who for years lobbied various devolved administrations for relief on this matter.
More than 25 boreholes have been drilled in these past months since Gov. Guyo came into office. It is because of this decision that areas such as Modo Gashe, Sericho, Malka Daka, Korbesa(Isiolo North), Dadacha Bassa just to mention but a few are now free of water shortage issues that they have experienced for years.
This is a commendable job on the governor’s part and his officials who swiftly jumped into action and implemented the directives issued by him to quench the thirsts of the people of Isiolo County.
Securing Isiolo County
Governor Guyo knew what he was getting himself into when he decided to vie for the Isiolo gubernatorial post. Isiolo, for long, has been well known as one of the counties where insecurity issues are treated as a normal occurrence.
Cattle-rustling, highway banditry, communities fighting over land, pasture and water resources is just but a common talk in the Northern Kenya and other pastoralists-occupied counties.
When Guyo took the reigns, he had his job cut out for him; end insecurity by all means. He immersed himself in finding the solutions to this recurring problem which have tugged at the souls of Isiolo people for such a long time without any meaningful effort from past leaders to give the people a break.
Fast-forward to this June of 2024, we have seen a significant drop in insecurity issues reported in and around Isiolo county.
This is because the governor provided leadership and worked with fellow leaders from counties such as Wajir, Garissa and Samburu which are usually the hotspots of insecurity along its shared borders with Isiolo County.
The governor worked with the central government and especially the internal security CS Prof. Kithure Kindiki, who, by the way, has visited Isiolo record times these past couple of years to find solution to the incessant insecurity issues in Isiolo.
Isiolo people are now enjoying the fruits of this partnership as order has now been restored to various insecurity hotspots giving the locals a sigh of relief. This could only have been possible by the leadership provided by the governor Guyo and his yearning for a better and peaceful Isiolo County where all communities live harmoniously.
Isiolo Abattoir Completion
I wouldn’t be entirely wrong if I stated that the Isiolo abattoir was a ‘failed’ project before the 2022 general elections brought in a saviour in the form of Gov. Guyo.
The project, initiated some 17 years ago when the former governor Kuti was the minister of Livestock in the Grand Coalition cabinet had been underfunded for years and at the pace it was going, would have hardly ever left the ground.
As of today, that project is 95% complete because of the swift actions taken by Guyo’s administration. The plant, once complete sometime later this year will have the capacity to directly employ more than a thousand locals which would create such big opportunities for (especially) the young people of Isiolo County.
The project will also indirectly employ from 30-50k which will be such a relief to a lot of households in this Isiolo county that have been reeling under abject poverty due to years of low infrastructural investments made by various administrations over years.
Once he came into office, the governor Guyo identified the abattoir project as one of the most viable-yet-neglected projects and went all out to ensure that it’s completion was fast-tracked.
The county government, under the able leadership of Gov. Guyo has so far allocated Kes 412 million with 200 million of that being allocated in the 2022/23 financial year and a further 212 million being allocation in the current financial year 2023/24 giving the project a much-needed boost to get off its feet.
Acknowledging that the figure allocated by the devolved unit was not enough to complete the project in the desired timeframe, Gov. Guyo lobbied the World Bank on the funding of the project.
The World Bank, while acknowledging the import of the project to the local economy committed 400+ million to the project seeing it’s viability. This allowed for the work on the project to be restarted and has since taken shape with its completion being in the final stages.
There are numerous benefits that the abattoir stands to accrue for not just the people of Isiolo County but all livestock keepers especially in the northern Kenya region which we shall talk about in another article. The abattoir has the capacity to slaughter about 1000 shoats, 500 cattle and 100 camels on a daily basis.
Completion of the County Government Headquarters
Started under the administration of Governor Kuti, the county government headquarters, once completed will save the taxpayers a lot of expenses in leasing office spaces from commercial premises.
Most county government departments are at the moment operating from rented spaces around Isiolo town. This will swiftly come to an end once the project is completed.
The county government shall therefore have more money allocated to development projects which previously went into paying rents for office space.
Bula Pesa Survey/Upcoming Roads/ Street Lighting
Bula Pesa Ward, despite being regarded as the mother of all wards in Isiolo County was largely neglected by the previous devolved regimes. Not so with Governor Guyo, he has taken measures to revive and rehabilitate the area with huge success.
The first-of-its-kind street lights in Bula Pesa are now lighting the previously dark alleys which made it impossible for locals to venture out at night(even for short calls, am told).
That is not the case at the moment and residents have been captured thanking the governor for his wisdom in bringing this much-needed infrastructure. Shops and even medical facilities can operate late into the night without having to worry about insecurities.
Surveying Bula Pesa(Opening up of roads)
I have been informed that no one in Bulapesa remembers the last time the survey team visited the area. It was such an emotive issue in Bulapesa and no past governor had the courage to risk putting the surveyors there.
This had the negative effect in that people encroached on the road networks which led to Bulapesa having some of the narrowest alleys and road networks. These were dark and vices such as mugging and robbery thrived in Bulapesa for so long.
This also made it impossible for the county government to construct road networks in the area which kept the property prices in the area at the lowest and made it impossible for local businesses to thrive.
When Governor Guyo took the initiative to open up Bulapesa, he consulted the locals on what needs to be done which was welcomed with open hands by the area leaders and locals who for so long have been yearning for development.
The decision was made and in the next few weeks, the communities residing there took the initiative upon themselves to lead the surveying team and granted them the support to execute their duties without any disturbances from any quarters.
As of the time of publishing this piece, the narrow alleys have been opened up as locals voluntarily gave up the encroached areas meant for roads. Bulapesa at the moment is safer than at any other time in its history of existence.
With surveying exercise complete, soon all the local road networks will be upgraded to cabro-standards and tarmac/murram. This will have the desired positive effects in that it will spur economic growth in the locality.
This also demonstrates one of the virtuous leadership traits of Governor Guyo; while his predecessors looked at Bulapesa’s problems from a point of ‘paying a political price, Guyo saw it from a point of development and holistic economic growth’.
This has finally paid off in that the Governor’s popularity in Bulapesa remains sky high and is regarded by most from the area as a ‘liberator’.
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