//Mandera Governor Ali Ibrahim Roba’s speech during the 11th Mashujaa Day celebrations

Mandera Governor Ali Ibrahim Roba’s speech during the 11th Mashujaa Day celebrations

Kenya Police march during the 11th Mashujaa Day celebrations at Moi Stadium in Mandera on October 20,2020

ASALAAMU ALEIKUM WARAHMATULLAAHI WABARAKATUHU.
H. E. the Deputy Governor, County Commissioner, Hon. Members of the County Assembly, Hon. County Executive Committee Members present, Members of County Security Team present, Chief Officers present and my beloved people of Mandera Assalaamu Aleikum, Ladies and Gentlemen, Today the 20th October 2020, we gather here to celebrate the heroes and the heroines of our great Country; we remember and celebrate all those brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives so that we can enjoy freedom.
We recognize and celebrate both the past and the present heroes and heroines that have made our country and County what they are today.
Our Mashujaa of the season are our frontline health workers who have worked tirelessly with the help of the Almighty Allah to keep us safe.
I would like to immensely extend our sincere appreciation to our health teams for a job well done in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.Please continue with your hard work and dedication to your work to keep our Mandera population safe.
Ladies and Gentlemen, recently we have witnessed a new but extremely encouraging phenomenon of peace building and demonstrations of Islamic values by some individuals who have chosen to return livestock wealth that were acquired illegally during past inter-clan conflicts. So far two individual elders have returned camels acquired through conflict back to their owners. You are truly our Mashujaa this season. You have set a very good example for others to follow suit. May Allah’s mercy be upon you.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Covid-19 is here with us for the foreseeable future hence we must adopt a new normal without getting tired.
The Covid-19 situation that was previously thought to have been controlled have since demonstrated an upsurge in case numbers and infections. We must continue with our protocols of social- distancing, wearing face masks, washing our hands, using hand sanitizers, and reporting to the nearest health facilities if you suspect yourself or have anyone with symptoms near you.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very happy to announce to you here that our county has installed a testing facility for COVID-19 and other infections.
This was made possible through the partnership between Kenya Medical Research Institute supported by the National Ministry of Health and our county. We immensely appreciate KEMRI and MOH for this transformative support that will serve not only Mandera but the region including cross border communities.
The PCR machine donated to us by KEMRI has been fully installed and is operational at Mandera County Referral Hospital. We have so far tested 90 samples out of which 6 have turned positive and are undergoing treatment. The Centre is undergoing validation process in order to connect with the national covid-19 reporting portal.
Ladies and Gentlemen, as we complete the 8th year of devolution, a lot has been accomplished without much celebration. I would like to take this opportunity to announce that very soon we will be officially commissioning the following flagship projects within our county.
For example in Mandera Municipality alone we have the Accident and Emergency Center, the Maternal Care center, the Rehabilitation Center, the Communicable Disease Control Center, our Fire Brigade Station, the state of art abattoir, the Municipality headquarters, the Mandawasco headquarters, Corner B bridge, Mandera Technical Training Institute, Mandera Teachers Training College, the Mandera Medical Training College, the County headquarters, the new County Assembly Buildings, the Regional Livestock market, the County Hotel, the residences of the Governor, the deputy Governor and the Speaker, the County Central Stores among others.
We are also planning to launch similar projects across the sub-counties. The next 6 months will be largely characterised by project launch and celebrations of devolution milestones. We have prioritised development of Mandera Municipality as key to our economic growth based on past models that is why more than 60% of our development projects are in Mandera town which is our headquarters and the economic hub of our county. We have been prioritising project in the order of the age of our Sub-counties starting with Mandera Town but eventually all the sub-counties will get certain basic development standards that will be similar for all.
Ladies and Gentlemen, our situation in Mandera with respect to quarrying has been worrying with our security teams opting for quarry closure as a result of security risks based on past terror events on quarry workers. While we have gotten maximum support from H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta in all security matters over the last 8 years to a level that we can’t ask for more because each and every request we have made to H.E. the president were all granted.
We have more than enough security personnel to protect quarry workers and allow quarry economic activities to continue uninterrupted, but we seem to have chosen the easiest way out which is close quarry activities in Mandera County.
For the past 8 years we have had back and forth engagement with the national government security teams trying to make them understand that these quarrying is a lifeline support for our people.
However, we seem to be in these never ending cycles of terror threats and us choosing always the easiest way out. The closure of quarrying activities without any consultation with the leadership of the county has created unnecessary tension between the two levels of Government.
Ladies and Gentlemen, in order for us to resolve these repetitive challenges of quarry closure, the people of this county must adopt an alternative building material. I urge the public to resort to brick making as an alternative to quarry stones. All construction activities globally are supported by bricks (matufali) hence there is no need of suffering unnecessary and avoidable inconveniences of begging the system to open up quarry operations all the time. Our public must adopt this alternative building methods by using matofali or bricks. Which is easy, safe and doesn’t require special skills. Anybody can do it. After all this approach will also help save our hills from getting environmentally degraded. Therefore, we now plead with the National government to keep enforcing the permanent closure of quarries in Mandera County.
Ladies and gentlemen, As you are aware nationally political activities have started. Very soon it will find its way into Mandera. I would like to advise our population that they must maintain law and order and participate in the political activities peacefully by supporting whichever side they want to support in exercise of their democratic rights without any emotions or voilence. Siasa itakuja na itapita so don’t hurt anyone using words or physical injury for politics. I would like to urge our people to maturely and responsibly participate in political activities. Enjoy your rights without infringing on the rights of others. In our democratic Country we should allow any candidate to come and sell his/ her political agenda freely and peacefully. If you don’t like a candidate or agenda stay away from their rallies but if you choose to attend then you should carry yourself with decorum even if you don’t like their idea or the person. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the people of Mandera town and in particular the women who have been very active in our climate change intervention programs through tree planting exercise within their homes and in front of each plot. We have so far planted over 250, 000 trees within Mandera town. I appeal to the people of Mandera to all undertake to plant at least 5 trees in and around each plot.
Today, I would like the people of my county to join hands with me in reenergising our tree planting efforts through the adoption of a new slogan of “OUR MANDERA COUNTY AND 5 TREES PER PLOT CHALLENGE”.
I would like to also urge you to please maintain environmental cleanliness within our residential Areas. Ladies and gentlemen, our labour rates in the construction industry are untenable. The public in Mandera must understand the prevailing market rates within the country and align labour prices to the average rates in our country. There is no way that this situation can be allowed to continue. If Nairobi and Mombasa pay skilled Fundis Kshs. 1000 per day and unskilled construction workers Kshs. 600 per day, then Mandera should not accept to pay more than Nairobi and Mombasa or other counties. While we do not want to control the natural market forces of supply and demand, we however must protect the public against exploitation. Mafundi lazima walipishe bei sawa na Nairobi na Mombasa na county zingine. Mambo kulipa mafundi shillingi 2000 imefanya bei ya ujenzi kukuwa ya garama ya juu sana kushinda nchi nzima. Lazima raia pia wawajibike na waache mambo ya kushindana juu ya wajenzi. Mafundi wameongezeka Zaidi na wengine wengi watakuja bora tuwe na usalama.
Asanteni na Mungu awabariki

Mandera Governor Ali Roba and County Commissioner Onesmus Kyatha during the 11th Mashujaa day celebrations in Mandera County

Mandera Governor Ali Roba with First Lady Hodhan Ibrahim during Mashujaa Day celebrations

By | 2020-11-23T21:18:37+03:00 October 20th, 2020|news|0 Comments

About the Author:

Leave A Comment