COUNTY: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT work around that,” he says. In total, the bank financed between 20 to 25 per cent of the Ogle Construction Wajir tarmac project. “Without <strong>KCB</strong> Bank, we could not be talking about contracts, getting the much needed finances to continue with the project and the necessary equipment,” he says. Ogle Construction Company, constructed the first eight kilometers out of the 28 kilometers that are now tarmacked in the town. Abdi describes building the tarmac road as the most unique experience in his road construction career. “Unlike other urban areas where we have a project and people have encroached on the road and thus it is difficult to relocate them, in Wajir, the residents cleared the roads even before we reached the sections that they had encroached on,” says Abdi with a smile. According to Wajir County Governor Ahmed Abdullahi, the tarmac road has transformed Wajir town more than anything else since independence. “Before the tarmac road, we had only two storied buildings in Wajir Town. We now have at least five storied buildings coming up. We didn’t even have demarcations for the town but the road has now made it possible for us to demarcate the town better,” the Governor said. Construction of a tarmac road, the most unorthodox means of spurring development, has totally transformed the once sleepy and dusty town. Value of property along the tarmac has gone up. Dozens of old buildings along the road have come down and are being replaced with modern buildings. There are two new hotels. One of them, the Wajir Hilton Hotel, is already recording a rise in business. A Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) is almost complete. The county has constructed a Huduma Centre and for the first time in history, you can train as a teacher within the county at the Wajir Teachers Training College. There is even a university under construction. Residents like Shukri Dubow, a 35-year-old watchman who calls himself Contribution to the economy 500 The number of cars estimated to be operating in Wajir, up from 150, following the tarmacking of the roads “macho ya town,” have a new moniker for the town. “This is the new Eastleigh,” he terms it. Like Eastleigh, there is a new swagger in the town. The county recently sounded a warning to donkey owners to “keep off” the tarmac. Residents used to walking can now use taxis. Before the tarmac was done, the local matatu and taxi association estimates that there were about 150 vehicles operating in the town. “We now have more than 500 vehicles. We are excited that soon we might also have a feel of traffic jams,” Abdi Noor, a taxi operator, jokes. Even boda boda operators are not being left behind. “We used to have less than 100 boda bodas operating in this town. Since the tarmac road was done, we now have more than 300 operating,” says Timothy Kamenjo, a 25-yearold boda boda operator. Along the tarmac road, businesses open late after the county government installed 20 floodlights and more than 300 solar-powered street lights to boost security. Wajir now offers an example in road infrastructure development to other counties. “Just the other day, there was a delegation from Mandera County who visited us to learn how they can construct tarmac roads,” Mr Abdullahi says. The tarmac is now a main feature in the reconstruction of the new Wajir that is meant to be a “Gateway to northern Kenya, with a dream to be the affluent, service-oriented capital of Kenya’s forgotten north, and a beacon of hope Do you have a dream? Contact : +254 (20) 3270199 corporateservice@kcb.co.ke 30 |
““Before the tarmac road, we had only two storied buildings in Wajir Town. We now have at least five storied buildings coming up,” Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi. 500 The estimated number of vehicles operating in Wajir Town since the tarmacking of the road up from about 150 | 31
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