Page 19 - MANDERA-COUNTY- REVIEW-3RD-EDITION

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onboard key policy recommendations of Gov- • Banissa Market Recognising the urgency to preserve and
ernor Ali Roba’s manifesto. • Takaba Market maintain the role of co-operatives in national
The priority areas are: • Bulla Jamhuria Market economic and social development, the county
• Building local industries to support re- • Bus Park Market government vigorously pursued legislative and
source and infrastructure investments in ar- • Fino Market institutional reforms to forestall the imminent
eas such as leather, agro-processing, beef In order to unlock the potential of SMEs, we collapse of the cooperative sub-sector.
production, beekeeping and fishing have carried business development services
• Enhancing non-industrial job creating sec- like business advisory and counselling, en- Cooperatives have made great contributions to
tors in ICT, retail and wholesale trade, and trepreneurship training, market surveys and economic growth and employment creation in
tourism research. This has greatly impacted traders in Kenya. They offer services, including mortgag-
• Improving the ease of doing business by terms business processes, bookkeeping, pru- es, insurance, transport, building construction
establishing a one-stop centre dent financial management, business registra- and land buying. Through savings mobilisa-
• Supporting sectors for growth - skills, infra- tion procedures and access to finance. tion and provision of loans, cooperatives have
structure and business development ser- brought their members into the mainstream na-
vices The department also organised 15 entrepre- tional market economy, besides playing a vital
These priority areas are expected to support neurial training for business startups, trade role in financing education, medical services
the county development agenda through the partners and young upcoming entrepreneurs. and other social economic activities.
creation of jobs and attraction of local and for- The overall objective of the training is to equip
eign investments. trainees, business startups and traders, with Cooperatives are best-placed to facilitate cor-
the basic concepts of entrepreneurship and porate governance, streamline management,
Through the appropriated budget, the county business planning. This is essential for the suc- set up regulatory framework and provide con-
has constructed 15 markets across the sub- cess of entrepreneurs and small businesses. It ducive environment for the formation of new so-
counties, with a combined capacity of 665 is aimed at inculcating entrepreneurial culture cieties, especially in under-served rural areas of
stalls, including the Elwak modern market. The in the society as a key to self-development. the county. In addition, they undertake capacity
improvement of the road network in the county The department offered business advisory ser- building for effective service delivery.
has also significantly boosted the ease of do- vices and counselling to 2,350 business trad-
ing business. This has remarkably facilitated ers through sub-county trade offices. Cooperatives should therefore play a key role
business operations and enhanced county rev- To support business investments, the County in improving access to markets and enhanc-
enue collection projection from Sh3,574,800 to Assembly enacted a revolving fund (Mandera ing marketing efficiency, as well as improving
Sh9,214,800 annually. County Trade Development Fund Act, 2014) value-addition and the development of financial
The facelift and renovation of the devolved with a budgetary allocation of Sh86 million. services products – that are demand-driven and
markets were also completed and the markets This is aimed at easing access to financial attractive to cooperative memberships. We in-
are already operational. credit for business traders and entrepreneurs herited a dormant Department of Cooperatives,
across the sub-counties. with only one cooperative officer and a single
These refurbished markets are: Nurturing the cooperative sector cooperative auditor. The department had only
35 cooperative societies, which were mostly
Number of markets in the county dormant and had weak governance structures.
These cooperatives were also mainly in the sub-
Market Markets under construction
counties of Mandera East and Mandera North.
Mandera Town Esp market 109
Ongoing construction of miraa market 55 It is against this background that the County
government found it necessary to employ quali-
Elwak SME Market park (modern) 208 stalls, 108 bale shades, 15 eateries, 40milk/meat
fied personnel and deploy them to the six sub-
sections, mosque and parking yard counties to revamp the cooperative movement.
Borehole 11 Market 16 The department has since revived 14 dormant
cooperatives, and expanded the base of the
Ashabito Market 16
cooperative movement from 35 to 149. This
Rhamu Dimtu Market 16 translates to a growth in membership to 3,479.
The revamped cooperatives’ projected turn-
TOTAL STALLS 398
over is over Sh8 million. Though the youth and
women comprise a significant proportion of the
Completed markets in the county population, their participation in cooperatives
was grossly limited. But with the inception of
Market Stalls
the County Government, Mandera got her first
Eymole Market 24 ever Saccos owned and managed by youth and
Sala Market 24 women respectively, namely Mandera County
Youth Bunge Shariah Sacco and Mandera Mar-
Lafey Market stalls and open shades 42
haba Women Sacco.
Takaba Market 4
Wargadud Market 16 The department undertook cooperative exten-
sion, education and training for the cooperative
Fino Market 7 movement. It stressed on inculcating the culture
Eymole Market 24 of self-reliance, good leadership, management
and capacity building.
Kutulo Market 16
The objective was to strategically position co-
New market stalls in Rhamu and in Mandera North Sub-County 60 operatives to play a crucial role in poverty re-
Refurbishment of existing old Rhamu markets 50 duction by widening their ownership, and incul-
cating a desire to engage in sustainable income
TOTAL STALLS 267
generating activities and investment among the