Discovering hidden treasures of Wajir county
The Swahili say tembea uone mengi. The vastness and wealth of this nation can sometimes be astounding. Take, for example, the county of Wajir. The public is seldom aware of the treasures of this far-flung piece of real estate.
Wajir occupies the northern corner of the country, with its tip touching Ethiopia while its right side has a long embrace of Somalia. It is one of the top three counties by size, the others being Turkana and Marsabit.
In the minds of many, it’s a dry patch of land, an insecure region, and a hardship area where civil servants lined up for Siberia treatment are posted. Dry it is, and that the temperatures soar to unfamiliar territory for those used to the highland temperatures, is true.
But there is so much more to Wajir, which is unknown. Scratch the ground, and water gushes out of the earth’s belly. The breadth of Wajir town is dotted with great hotels with lush green gardens for those seeking accommodation.
To start off, the journey to this town need not be torturous. It is served by one of the largest airports in Kenya. Sure, Wajir International Airport is a surprise! An hour later, after departing the increasingly patched surface of Wilson Airport, you land in Wajir. One of those baffling things about this country is why the runways of Wilson Airport cannot be spruced up with a layer of smooth surface.
The traffic at Wilson Airport is unique in frequency, yet it reeks of age and abandonment. It is a forgotten jewel. But this story is not about Wilson Airport; let us stay with Wajir. Wajir is home to nearly all the domestic airlines.
On a visit to one of those hotels in town, the food is sweet and well done. For most, you have your first taste of camel meat and camel milk, thick tea made with camel milk and for coffee lovers, you have your cappuccino made with camel milk. Camel meat is surprisingly sweet and lean.
But of course, the camel products are to be expected. So let the goat meat be, although that, too, is sweet and lean. At the Mall in town – Wajir has a Mall; they serve a drink baptised Home and Away. It is smooth and has everything: date, coffee, groundnuts, plus more. The waiters recommend it, then smile at you sheepishly as they dash to fetch it.
That this dry land is venturing into agriculture is the other story. The county’s governor, the affable Ahmed Abdulahi, smiles easily as he tells the story of the 5,000-acre farm that has yielded an excellent maize harvest – and this without irrigation, just the El Nino rain.
The watermelons in Wajir are huge and sweet. That Wajir can afford to serve local produce in their hotels and you eat to your full is a well-kept secret. Far to the north of the county, locals have embarked on beekeeping. These farmers have become celebrities of sorts.
Last year, they travelled to Eldoret, what some of them call the other Kenya, to attend the Council of Governors Conference and show off their produce. They were shocked by the interest shown in their honey, and months later, they are racing to meet the demand generated by orders from the conference.
Apart from the county government’s contribution to empowering these locals, the other alternative players in empowering the community are the development partners who work with the community on a day-to-day basis, draw from the local knowledge and build the capacity of these people to be self-sufficient.
World Food Program, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, surprisingly, the list is not as long as one would expect, provide many services, including borehole drilling for water supply, education, table banking and health services to supplement the work of the county and national governments.
If only the country’s infrastructure would be developed faster enough to enable Kenyans to access every corner of the country, the nation’s economy would be easily opened to all.
— The writer is Dean, School of Communication, Daystar University
