Mashujaa Day celebration in Mandera | How it went down| See the governor's speech

Have the pleasure and read governor Ali Roba's Thursday, 20th 2016 Mashujaa day speech:

ASALAAMU ALEIKUM WARAHMATULLAAHI WABARAKATUHU.
THE FOURTH MASHUJAA DAY SPEECH BY THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF MANDERA COUNTY HE CAPT. ALI IBRAHIM ROBA ON THE 20TH OF OCTOBER 2016.
The Deputy Governor, The County Commissioner, Members of the county executive, Members of Mandera County Assembly, Council of Elders present both National and local, all other distinguished guests, my beloved people of Mandera County good morning.
Today let me begin by saying it is indeed with humility and appreciation to the Almighty Allah that we are here to remember and celebrate our fallen heroes and heroines who fought for the independence of our nation. This will be the 7th Mashujaa day celebration under the new constitution and the Fourth under the county government of Mandera. We are here to celebrate the great achievements over the last three and half years under the devolved system of Government and reflect on the many challenges that we have resiliently endured such us tribal clashes, terrorism, radicalization of our youth that has become an existential threat to our lives, poverty, ignorance and disease among others.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
we salute the The Kapenguria Six – Bildad Kaggia, Kung'u Karumba, Jomo Kenyatta, Fred Kubai, Paul Ngei, and Achieng' Oneko. We remember Mekatilili wa Menza, Koitalel arap Samoei, Harry Thuku, Muindi Mbingu, Dedan Kimathi and their comrades. These great Kenyans, through courage and determination, galvanized the struggle for Kenya’s independence.

Just as importantly, we also celebrate the multitude of unsung heroes of this County from all clans whose contributions needs special recognition in our society. There are many unsung heroes and heroines whose efforts brought progress and unity to our county. We celebrate our security team in Mandera County who struggle to keep us safe. The nurses and doctors who go beyond the call of duty to give us hope. Our teachers who have turned around education sector performance in this county and most particularly the untrained teachers whose dedication has motivated our students to work harder despite the odds.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mashujaa are men and women who have made a lasting mark in the lives of fellow Kenyans and in the history and development of our country. They are men and women who have taken great risks in service to save, advance and protect their fellow citizens as such Our hardworking mothers, sisters, daughters and wives are unique heroines that I must say a big thank you to them.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have transformed the healthcare sector by more than 300% in all areas starting from staffing, medical supplies, referral systems, maternal health, new health facilities among others. In about one month’s time we will be opening 53 new health facilities across the county which will more than triple our healthcare services provision capacity.

Both Mandera Referral Hospital and Elwak Referal Hospital are undergoing upgrading at the cost of kshs 200 million each. Once completed, we will be handling most of the health needs within the county with minimal referral for specialized treatment.

We are pursuing the use of technology in the field of medicine. My county government is exploiting ways in which we can take advantage of telemedicine, where local doctors would consult with specialists outside Mandera to undertake reliable medical procedures as we strive to build our service capacity at most of our facilities.

Brothers and sisters,
Mandera County has demonstrated a total transformation in the Education sector. In 2015 KCPE Examination, the County had a mean score of 252 compared to a mean score of 182 in 2013.

In 2013 less than 20 candidates qualified for University intake and in 2015 more than 450 candidates qualified for University grade apart from more than 1,400 who qualified for tertiary Institutions.

In the Primary school sector; in 2013 less than 68 candidates qualified for National Schools, while more than 168 candidates joined prestigious National Schools in 2015. This has been achieved through the efforts of the County Government and its commitment to the well beng of its population in all areas. We have sponsored termly Mocks for both Primary and Secondary, employed Quality Assurance officers carried out quality Assessments in all schools, introduced and natured Prize giving days, parent days, employed over 950 UT teachers among many inputs.

Before the devolution only four (4) ECDE Teachers were employed by defunct former Local Authority (MCC) and today More than four hundred and sixty (460) ECDE Teachers have been employed by my Government.

Our Youth polytechnic (YP) has produced its first 228 graduands with vocational skills and were given start up kits to join the open workforce within the county. Before devolution there was only one (1) Youth Polytechnic developed, after devolution five (5) more have been developed and all were operationlized.

Before the devolution we had no single ECDE Classrooms built, my Government has constructed more than 161 ECDE Classrooms including six (6) model ECDE Centres and supplied them with enough ECDE teaching/learning resource and Play materials.

We have improved Enrolments in our schools after devolution, ECDE enrolment increased from 16,231 to 33,236, primary school enrolment has increased from 74,545 to 87,632 and Secondary school enrolment has increased from 8,000 to 12,500.
My dream of having Technical University of Science and Technology in Mandera is on track, our Technical Training College and Mandera Teachers Training College are now operational. Mandera Teachers Training College admitted its first 100 students both regular and School based for august and September, intake 2016, while Mandera Technical College its first 33 students and more to enroll before November, 2016. An ECDE Teachers Training Center has also been operationalized.

Over the last financial year we have distributed kshs 100 million as bursary to our needy students with an additional Kshs 100 million budgeted for in the current financial year. We have improved co-curricular activities within our schools making or schooling environment very interesting for our students. My Government has constructed model libraries in four (4) Sub-Counties.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, devolution has radically changed the county’s narrative and made farming a success story that is told beyond our borders. The drought-threatened arid lands have been turned into farms through irrigation along the river.

We have operationalized all the previously stalled irrigation schemes of BP1, Gadudia, Aresa, Hareri, Shantoley and Rhamu dimtu irrigation canals have been increased by A total of 7.5km of main concrete and lateral canals. A total of 2,145 acres of farm land has been opened up through bush clearing of Prosopis julifora (Mathenge) plants. We have constructed gabion structures along the River Daua bank to protect irrigated farm lands from destruction by floods. In addition to the above we have distributed more than 100 water pumps for irrigation to poor farmers along the river as well as distribution of Forty (40) portable water pumps to various farming groups with shallow wells.

Over the last three years we have distributed Over 150 metric tons of assorted seeds and 20400 seedlings to farmers countywide.

In Agricultural mechanization we have procured and operationalized 6No farm tractors, with all its accessories. The county also received a donation from the Turkish government of 2No tractors with its accessories.

Area under crop production has been increased from 3590Ha in 2012 to 6170 Ha in 2015 and total production of crops has also increased form 6430MT in 2012 to 10,730MT in 2015.

Over the last 3 and half years, we have given ending drought emergency a new meaning. Alhamdullillah, we have not seen mass death of livestock during the drought seasons as it used to be. Our livestock numbers are increasing every year over the last 3 years as the county mitigates the droughts risks and responds to effects of drought.

Insha’Allah in 15 years’ time Mandera will be fully food sufficient.
Brothers and sisters,
Two years of intensive work on roads has paid dividends with benefits accruing especially to the transport sector. The time spent on the roads has been cut by up to 300 per cent in some instances. Already, a total of over 905 kilometers of dirt roads have been completely upgraded to all-weather Murram roads.

In Mandera town, a 24.5 kilometer stretch of road is currently being tarmacked, the first ever in the County. We have constructed 65 drifts across the county to create all weather passage of our roads and bush cleared 83 roads within the county for ease of access.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have secured funding through the National Government from African Development Bank to do water reticulation, metering , water treatment plant and sewage system for Mandera town. The design work has been completed and undergoing review at the ministry and ADP as well as the World bank. We expected the procurement to commence anytime soon.

We have drilled and equipped 59 boreholes across the county. We are piping fresh water to Elwak from falama. we are carrying out underground water resource mapping countywide and have completed 90 site hydrogeological surveys. We have constructed 39 new dams comprising of 21no 20000M3, 3 no 30000M3, 14 no 60000M3, 1 no 120000M3 throughout the county which have helped ease water supply both for human beings and livestock.
We have also constructed 10 new water supply systems within the county and rehabilitated 45 water supply systems across the county. In addition to these, we have also rehabilitated through de-silting and expansion 27 water pans and dams across the country. We have constructed 86 new underground water tanks whose capacities range from 100000L3 to 300000L3 across the county.

Brothers and sisters,
On the security front, the county has endured security threats from occasional clan rivalries and terror attacks by Al-Shabaab militants. We have worked in collaboration with the National Government and our local communities, to champion functional conflict management in our resolve to strike lasting peace in the area which is paying dividend.

The peace meetings not only entailed integrated participation of the council of elders, youth and women, but also embraced cross-border linkages with neighboring Ethiopia and Somalia. We have endured and survived the greatest challenges of our time and managed to perform fairly well under extreme conditions.

Through our aggressive lobbying with the national government; we have managed to deal with terror threats by reducing drastically both the frequency of attacks and the severity of the attacks within the county. Today we are more secure than we have ever being over the last 10 years.

Brothers and sisters,
Lastly, I take this opportunity to extend my well wishes to all of our students/children sitting for their KCSE and KCPE Exams this year; we wish them success and the best of luck in their exams.

I am confident despite the many challenges you will make us proud with the help of Allah. My advice to you is to stay away from any form of shameful act of exam cheating and other irregularities that may compromise the outcome of your results.
May the Almighty Allah Bless You All.

Some photos from the event...