Coast governors push for control of port, ferry services
PHOTO | FILE Governors from coast want the national parks, ports, ferry service and mineral resources to be managed by the devolved governments.
What you need to know:
- Leaders endorse agreement to control all resources available in the region
- The governors said that the national and county governments have distinct roles.
Governors from the six Coast counties Saturday vowed to push for control of all resources available in the region.
In what they termed as Lamu Declaration, Governor Issa Timamy (Lamu), Hussein Dado (Tana River), Amason Kingi (Kilifi), Hassan Joho (Mombasa), Salim Mvurya (Kwale) and John Mruttu (Taita Taveta) unanimously endorsed the agreement during a rally at Mkunguni square in Lamu Saturday during the home coming party of their host Mr Timamy.
The governors said that the national and county governments have distinct roles.
They said there should be a formula in which counties and the national government share resources.
“We have a common problem facing all of us from Lamu, Tana River, Kilifi, Mombasa, Kwale and Taita Taveta and these problems can be addressed if we stand united,” said Mr Mruttu.
He said the port, national parks and minerals that are found in coast counties are classified as national resources but said Masaai Mara national park is managed by Narok County while tea and coffee in Central Kenya is also left to the counties.
“We will fight to control these resources in accordance to the Constitution which clearly dictates for equity in resource distribution and management,” he added.
Mr Kingi said the governors will work together to ensure residents, who have been marginalised for long, benefit from their numerous resources.
“Our founding fathers went to Lancaster to bring us independence so that we can take control of our country and land but recently in Kilifi we deliberately avoided to mark the 50 years of Golden Jubilee because we had no reason to mark such an event simply because successive governments have denied us our right,” said Mr Kingi.
He said coast residents have high hopes in devolution, which he said is instrumental development of most counties.
“We should now wake up because we can now rely on the Constitution to claim what is rightfully ours, address the land problem and manage the resources within our counties. The Constitution also allows us to provide 70 per cent of job opportunities to our indigenous people,” he added.
Mr Salim Mvurya urged residents to guard devolution and support their county governments to ensure they benefit from development in their areas.
