According to Interpol, Garissa town is reportedly the safest town in East and Central Africa. The pastoralist town added yet another feather in its cap for having the biggest livestock market in East and Central Africa.
The 5.38-hectare market which is as old as Garissa town started off as a meeting point for barter traders before gradually developing into the renowned livestock market. The market receives livestock from Kenya and other neighbouring countries like Somalia and Djibouti.
Among the animals paraded for sale include cattle, camels, goats and donkeys. Of these, the cattle are the fastest moving commodity thus the huge market is generally referred to as 'Soko la Ng'ombe'.
Wednesday is the official market day of the week. By eight o'clock in the morning, the market is fully packed and is a buzz of activity with people from all walks of life trying to haggle for a fair price.
Osman Dubat, 70, from Mogadishu is one of them. His greatest intent this particular Wednesday is to buy more cattle for his ranches. When we meet, he is in deep negotiations with Nkaiseri Ole Tipis from Kajiado Central. "I have been doing this for the last 20 years, I always come and buy the cows at a lower price before selling them at higher one. I am a butcher so after I buy them, I fatten them at my ranches then slaughter them for sale."
Another determined trader Ibrahim Farah from Djibouti admits that he had been camping in Garissa four days prior the market day to offload his 300 head of cattle. "With the ongoing drought which is being experienced in some parts our country, I saw no need to continue keeping this number of animals only to lose them through drought. I decided to bring them to this market because in Djibouti we don't have a big livestock market like this one."
During the high season, over 2,000 head of cattle gets traded off at the market. This number makes the city council Sh350, 000 in market fees. "For each donkey and every head of cattle we charge Sh160, while for camels its Sh300 and Sh40 per goat and sheep. This money we collect helps us run our business as a council thus we are able to improve our services to the people of Garissa," revealed Garissa Town Clerk Erastus Karani.
The town clerk however says that the council still faces its fair share of challenges including neighbouring communities trying to encroach the market land. Through the Kenya Municipal Programme, the council is now making plans to put up a perimeter wall around the market to remedy this problem. "We also intend to put up a shed for the traders and extra toilets to cater for the thousand plus people we admit. The water troughs also need to be replaced as they are worn out."
According to another government official David Cheruiyot who serves as the Garissa District Livestock officer, an abattoir needs to be set up. "We have a big number of weak animals that die in the market. The construction of this abattoir will go a long way to help create another source of income for these animal owners because currently when the animals die, they get disposed off."
Post taken verbatim from Nairobi Star
Showing posts with label Councillors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Councillors. Show all posts
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Sdiq's thoughts: The illiterate councilors in NEP - Kenya
By "the incredible" Sdiq Baqad
There are only a handful of magnificent architectural structures in Garissa, the capital of North-Eastern Province in Kenya (NEP). And, one of these buildings is the Catholic Church in the town. You might wonder why the presence of a church would be very conspicuous in a majority Muslim town. However, this has everything to do with the quality of the councilors we have in the province – the elected local government officials. The public library in the town is also outstanding and is actually rumoured to be the best in the country.
Due to the poor pay associated with such onerous but important tasks, most of the elite shun these junior political positions. They instead prefer the other more prestigious occupations that come with the money. Politically, the least they accept are parliamentary positions, which in Kenya are known to pay very well - and tax free salaries at that. This, therefore, leaves some, mostly illiterate, persons to take the local governance jobs. And, that’s where our problem stems from.
In addition, town planning is usually done at the central level - in the state capital. Technocrats in Nairobi are the ones tasked with planning for the whole of Kenya. It is these groups that draw maps for all towns in Kenya. Though there is nothing wrong with these surveyors, cartographers and other similar professionals being adherents of a particular faith, the maps they draw usually come with a wrong assumption that everyone in Kenya is a Christian. Thus, they fallaciously indicate ‘church’ on the maps rather than leave this option open, or write 'place of worship' instead.
And, this is where our ill-educated leaders come in. For some reasons, they take the word 'church' literally, not realizing that the proposed church land is in fact a space meant for the majority of an area to establish their own place of worship. Thus, if the residents of a region are predominantly of a certain faith, say, for example, Islam, then it is a mosque that deserves priority in such an area. Conversely, if the same region was predominated by Catholics, then a catholic church should be given precedence over other houses of worship.
It is for this reason that you will find almost all mosques in Garissa, and by extension in the whole province, being built on privately acquired land. A Muslim could, for example, buy a plot for the purpose of an Islamic worship centre, or offer a piece from their own parcels. This, sadly, makes most of the mosques in the region to be squeezed on some small plots. Expansion of the same, or the establishment of a madrassa within the compound of the masjid, thus becomes an impossible feat. On the other hand, the minority Christians in Garissa enjoy the prime most areas for their churches, and on relatively expansive plots.
The Somalis never see this as a problem though. As long as they have access to some place they can go and do their worship, then there isn’t a dilemma, regardless of the quality of the same. This effectively denies the Muslims in this region enough spaces for their other religious needs, and notably, madrassas.
Whereas this setback is primarily caused by the experts in Nairobi, the councilors aren’t infallible too. They do also contrive to deny residents of other social amenities. You will be surprised that there are whole sections of Garissa that are inaccessible by road. Apart from some school playgrounds, the town also does not have public recreation facilities. All these are solely as a result of the illiterate officials that locals elect every so often.
Now, the residents of NEP have to pay a price for the ineptness of the central government combined with the idiocy of their local officials. You will be surprised though if you contrast what happens in NEP and the reality in other parts of the country. Muslims in other parts of the country, or even adherents of other faiths, are primarily considered if they form the majority in a given place. A good example would be towns in Central Province like Thika, Muranga and Margua - places I have visited before.
Luckily, the newly promulgated Kenyan Constitution devolves a lot of the power initially concentrated at the central level to the county level. This would, therefore, make all developmental decisions, and other issues regarding the advancement of the citizens, to be deliberated by the locals themselves. Also, many educated youth are now eyeing these junior political positions, mostly out of desperation for unemployment is very high in the region. Therefore, and as a result of the above two, the future seems to be very bright.
There are only a handful of magnificent architectural structures in Garissa, the capital of North-Eastern Province in Kenya (NEP). And, one of these buildings is the Catholic Church in the town. You might wonder why the presence of a church would be very conspicuous in a majority Muslim town. However, this has everything to do with the quality of the councilors we have in the province – the elected local government officials. The public library in the town is also outstanding and is actually rumoured to be the best in the country.
Due to the poor pay associated with such onerous but important tasks, most of the elite shun these junior political positions. They instead prefer the other more prestigious occupations that come with the money. Politically, the least they accept are parliamentary positions, which in Kenya are known to pay very well - and tax free salaries at that. This, therefore, leaves some, mostly illiterate, persons to take the local governance jobs. And, that’s where our problem stems from.
In addition, town planning is usually done at the central level - in the state capital. Technocrats in Nairobi are the ones tasked with planning for the whole of Kenya. It is these groups that draw maps for all towns in Kenya. Though there is nothing wrong with these surveyors, cartographers and other similar professionals being adherents of a particular faith, the maps they draw usually come with a wrong assumption that everyone in Kenya is a Christian. Thus, they fallaciously indicate ‘church’ on the maps rather than leave this option open, or write 'place of worship' instead.
And, this is where our ill-educated leaders come in. For some reasons, they take the word 'church' literally, not realizing that the proposed church land is in fact a space meant for the majority of an area to establish their own place of worship. Thus, if the residents of a region are predominantly of a certain faith, say, for example, Islam, then it is a mosque that deserves priority in such an area. Conversely, if the same region was predominated by Catholics, then a catholic church should be given precedence over other houses of worship.
It is for this reason that you will find almost all mosques in Garissa, and by extension in the whole province, being built on privately acquired land. A Muslim could, for example, buy a plot for the purpose of an Islamic worship centre, or offer a piece from their own parcels. This, sadly, makes most of the mosques in the region to be squeezed on some small plots. Expansion of the same, or the establishment of a madrassa within the compound of the masjid, thus becomes an impossible feat. On the other hand, the minority Christians in Garissa enjoy the prime most areas for their churches, and on relatively expansive plots.
The Somalis never see this as a problem though. As long as they have access to some place they can go and do their worship, then there isn’t a dilemma, regardless of the quality of the same. This effectively denies the Muslims in this region enough spaces for their other religious needs, and notably, madrassas.
Whereas this setback is primarily caused by the experts in Nairobi, the councilors aren’t infallible too. They do also contrive to deny residents of other social amenities. You will be surprised that there are whole sections of Garissa that are inaccessible by road. Apart from some school playgrounds, the town also does not have public recreation facilities. All these are solely as a result of the illiterate officials that locals elect every so often.
Now, the residents of NEP have to pay a price for the ineptness of the central government combined with the idiocy of their local officials. You will be surprised though if you contrast what happens in NEP and the reality in other parts of the country. Muslims in other parts of the country, or even adherents of other faiths, are primarily considered if they form the majority in a given place. A good example would be towns in Central Province like Thika, Muranga and Margua - places I have visited before.
Luckily, the newly promulgated Kenyan Constitution devolves a lot of the power initially concentrated at the central level to the county level. This would, therefore, make all developmental decisions, and other issues regarding the advancement of the citizens, to be deliberated by the locals themselves. Also, many educated youth are now eyeing these junior political positions, mostly out of desperation for unemployment is very high in the region. Therefore, and as a result of the above two, the future seems to be very bright.
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