Residents and community leaders in Turkana East and Suguta Sub-Counties have called for better coordination, prioritisation and implementation of county projects as the Turkana County Government conducts public participation on the proposed 2027/2028 County Annual Development Plan (CADP).
The 2027/2028 CADP is the fifth annual implementation plan under the Third-Generation County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) 2023–2027 and provides a framework for translating county development priorities into specific programmes and projects.
The public participation exercise gave residents an opportunity to review proposed development priorities, raise concerns over the implementation of previous projects and identify areas requiring greater attention in the next financial year.
In Lokori, resident Frankline Karani raised concerns over the distribution of proposed projects, noting that only three of the seven village units in the area had projects included in the 2027/2028 plan.
Karani urged the County Government to consider the needs of the remaining four village units to ensure development interventions are distributed more equitably across the area.
Residents in Suguta Sub-County raised similar concerns, calling for proposed projects to be prioritised according to community needs while questioning whether projects identified through the public participation process would eventually be implemented.
They urged the County Government to honour the priorities raised during the consultations, saying successful implementation would demonstrate that residents’ views had been taken into account during the planning process.
Lokori Village Administrator Logiron Mana called on contractors undertaking county projects to engage village and ward administrators before commencing work.
Mana said involving local administrators would improve coordination, accountability and communication between contractors, the County Government and communities.
Katilia Ward Administrator Simon Chamale urged the County Government to give priority to completing pending projects before embarking on new ones.
He also called for stronger coordination among project implementers and community leadership to ensure projects are completed within the expected timelines and deliver the intended benefits.
Lokori/Kochodin Ward Administrator Emmanuel Ewar emphasised the need for improved communication between the county headquarters and ward-level leadership, particularly when sharing sensitive information.
Ewar proposed that such information be communicated through official communication groups and the County Government website to ensure it reaches the relevant stakeholders through appropriate channels.
The views and concerns raised by residents will be consolidated and used to inform the preparation and prioritisation of projects under the 2027/2028 County Annual Development Plan.
Deputy Director for Resource Mobilisation, Partnerships and Donor Coordination Michael Aupe, who led the County Government team during the engagement, stressed the importance of public participation in ensuring development projects reflect the actual needs of communities.
Aupe said future public participation exercises should ideally involve the County Executive, County Assembly and communities jointly to strengthen ownership and ensure projects proposed and eventually implemented reflect priorities identified by residents.
He also said the County Government was working to address pending bills and complete stalled projects, noting that resolving the outstanding obligations would create room for more effective implementation of new development programmes.
“We hope that these pending bills will be a thing of the past,” Aupe said.
Residents also called for greater involvement of community leaders in the implementation and monitoring of county projects, particularly in water, healthcare, education, roads and agriculture.
They said timely implementation of the proposed projects would not only improve access to essential services but also demonstrate that the County Government had listened to and acted on the priorities raised through the public participation process.
