FCDC Press Statement, January 2021 in Naivasha

Ladies and gentlemen,
The Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC) bloc comprising of Turkana, West Pokot, Samburu, Isiolo, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Lamu and Mandera has been attending its quarterly meeting for the last three days in a bid to address drought emergency, education crises, insecurity, locust invasion, and assess the state of infrastructure investments on the key project-Horn of Africa Gateway- with a view to finding jointly coordinated solutions to bottlenecks. We had fruitful participation of the European Union, the Swiss Embassy, the World Bank, the UNDP and FAO and the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya and Kenya National Highways Authority. It is against this background that FCDC wishes to bring to the attention of the country the following critical issues affecting the region.
ONE: EDUCATION
During the Covid-19 pandemic from March 2020 to date at least 107,556 primary and secondary school students have dropped out of school. These numbers paint a grim picture of having 1,295,000 children out of school in the 10 counties.
The summary of children out of school in the 10 counties is as follows
Lamu-5,980
Tana River-44,840
Garissa-255,870
Mandera-265-000
Wajir-237,400
Isiolo- 35,000
Marsabit-94-320
Turkana-224,270
West Pokot, 74,210
Samburu, 58,040
We have provided a comprehensive table at the end as an attachment for your perusal.
Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Kenyans, half of the people counties in FCDC region are illiterate and this situation only worsens an already dire situation.
Sustainable development is largely dependent on literacy levels. What it means is that this region will be left behind if the situation of lack of access education persists.
Education is a basic right for all Kenyans under the constitution. We appeal to the National Ministry of Education and President Uhuru Kenyatta to help us ensure access to basic education for our children.
We face severe teacher shortages and learning remains paralysed in most of our schools with many cases having only the head teacher available to serve entire school population. The following are summaries of teacher staffing gaps in Mandera, Wajir and Garissa after Teachers Service Commission withdrew teachers citing security challenges from the Al Shabaab terror group;
We face a shortage of 3,010 teachers in primary schools with Mandera requiring 1,707, Wajir 1,212, and Garissa 91. For secondary schools shortage of teachers stands at 437 in Mandera, 382 in Wajir and 351 in Garissa totaling to 1,170.
Ladies and gentlemen, when we raise such alarm about realities on the ground, it is NOT driven by anything else other than a desperate cry for help to better our situation.
TWO: USE OF LAMU PORT FOR LIVESTOCK EXPORT: In our meeting, the Council resolved to plan for the strategic use of the Lamu Port for the export of livestock products to competitive markets abroad. To this end, we will work with Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and Lamu County as well as the LAPSET and all stakeholder ministries and departments to position FCDC for strategic export of live animals through the Lamu Port.
As we work one on the finer details of this engagement, we request to be allocated one berth designated for livestock exports.
THREE: DROUGHT EMERGENCY
We are concerned that our communities in the Frontier Counties experienced erratic rainfall and this has amplified our water deficiency and depressed pasture making our people more vulnerable and food insecure. We declare the FCDC bloc-wide drought emergency.
We are slowly feeling the pain from the dry spell. We face some tough and challenging months ahead before the on-set of long rains expected in April 2021.
Drought doesn’t just hurt pastoralists, it impacts the growth and productivity of our entire nation and region. It hurts small businesses and the wider community with children and women hit harder as well. Our counties are actively trucking water to save people and animals. This an exercise that requires extra funding that keeps water flowing through affected areas. While we appreciate the support from the National Government and Development partners through the National Drought Management Authority, we must redouble our efforts to ensure no life is lost or animal dies as we complement the investment by county governments.
All these efforts are aimed reducing the distances our people and animals travel to access water and increase the resilience of communities.
FOUR: LOCUST INVASION
We note that Counties in the FCDC were worst hits by the invasion of swarms of desert locust. We applaud and commend the efforts of National Government and Ministry of Agriculture and particularly the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in partnership with county governments in mitigating the impacts of the destructive pest.
Locusts have devoured pasture and food crops badly. Latest reports by FAO shows that immature swarms continue to arrive and disperse throughout northern and central Kenya. In the past few days, swarms have been reported in 10 counties (Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Isiolo, Marsabit, Samburu, Laikipia, Meru North, Meru Central, and Tharaka). So far, only a few swarms have started to mature. In the southeast, fledging occurred near Taita Taveta and a few late instar hopper bands were present along the coast.
We request that Ministry of Devolution and ASALs to extend food relief support to help plug the gaps in food security. Such support will go a long way in complementing the efforts of respective county governments and partners.
FIVE: PEACE AND SECURITY
Peace and security in the FCDC region remains fragile and worrying. We are extremely concerned with deteriorating situation. We appeal to the National Government to help restore peace and security in the areas that reported challenges. These include Kapedo, Isiolo-Wajir border where we have witnessed inter-clan clashes of over boundaries, Wajir Garissa clashes of land and pasture.
We are witnessing increasing incidents of violent extremism and sighting of terror cells particularly in Mandera, Wajir and Garissa. We appeal to our people, that we have many odds against us, WE CANNOT ALLOW ANOTHER odd to visit us. We must cooperate with security agencies and report elements of such terror groups in our midst.
Ladies and gentlemen, finally, we addressed the Horn of Africa Gateway Project- the 740km Isiolo-Mandera Road funded by World Bank, African Development Bank and the National Government among other partners. We acknowledge this is a game changing mega project and we appeal to the National Government to fast track its implementation within the set timelines.
End of Statement:
Signed by:
H.E. Ali Ibrahim Roba- FCDC chair and Governor Mandera County
H.E. Mohamud Ali- FCDC Vice Chair and Governor Marsabit
H.E. Josephat Koli Nanok-Governor Turkana County
H.E. Moses Lenoolkulal- Governor- Samburu County
H.E. Maj Rtd Dhadho Godhana- Governor- Tana River
H.E. Fahim Twaha- Governor-Lamu County
H.E. Dr Abdi Isaack- Deputy Governor- Isiolo County
H.E. Ahmed Mukhtar- Deputy Governor Wajir County

Summary of children out of school in 10 FCDC counties: