Page 56 - MANDERA-COUNTY- THE 2019 MAGAZINE

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OUR LAND, OUR ASSET

Planning vital for county’s main development resource

Adan Hussein Hassan,
the County Executive
Committee (CEC)
Member Lands, Housing,
Physical Planning and
Urban Development has
immense knowledge of
the expansive Mandera
County having worked in
the area for over 30 years.
Prior to his appointment,
the Kenyatta University
graduate, worked as a
teacher in Mandera and
later as an education Ongoing construction of the County Rest House.
officer. The working
experience enabled him to
traverse the vast county, and is the single most resource striving to unlock more opportunities the form of rental payments. Modern
equipping him with a rich upon which other development through land use planning. land registries have been construct-
knowledge of the area. Lactivities are embedded, but it ed in Mandera town and Elwak.
Adan commenced his is also a source of conflict if not well Land use planning enhances secu-
career as a teacher managed. rity of tenure, improves accessibil- The land records have been comput-
in 1981 and served ity, promotes environmental health erized and it is now easier to search
for four years before For many years Mandera County and eliminates land use conflict and for property records. The Ministry of
being elevated to an which is endowed with vast land development control,” says County Lands has also initiated the process
education officer serving that can be sustainably harnessed Executive Committee (CEC) Member of procuring the Land Information
the then Mandera and to achieve long-term development Adan Hussein Hassan. Management System (LIMS) to com-
Wajir districts before the goals has witnessed the mushroom- pletely digitize all the land records
promulgation of the new ing of unplanned structures in urban Adan notes that major developments and bring them at par with national
Constitution. centres and ownership conflict. characterized by large commercial best practice in land record keeping.
enterprises are increasingly evident
Before his appointment Such challenges had been brought in Mandera County. Further, property Integrated Urban Development Plans
as the CEC in 2013, about by marginalization and failure values in planned areas are on the (IUDPs)
Adan, served as a Quality by the then local authorities to plan rise, a clear indication that land use The county government inherited un-
Assurance and Standards urban centres and maintain proper planning is transforming the various planned towns from the defunct local
officer in Mandera after records. To address these salient sectors of the county’s economy. authorities. Apart from a section of
a nine-year stint as a challenges, the County Government Mandera town, all the urban centres
programmeme officer with has established a comprehensive Achievements were unplanned.
the Ministry of Education framework for land use planning and Land registry
managing the District development. The land registry has been reconsti- This resulted in haphazard land use
Centre for Early Childhood tuted and the records are available as there were no regulations in place
Education The county through the Ministry of both in digital and manual format. This to control land use planning. The
Lands, Survey, Physical Planning, has resulted into many properties be- County Government has managed to
Housing and Urban Development is ing captured for revenue collection in complete the preparation of IUDPs for