by STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Correspondent, North Eastern
Monday August 15, 2022
Fafi constituency MP elect Salah Yakub displays his certificate after winning the seat.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Fafi constituency MP-elect Salah Yakub has said improving
security and pushing for recruitment of more teachers will be his top
priorities.
Yakub, who vied on a UDA ticket, was declared winner in the
hotly contested parliamentary seat with 5,702 votes against his closest
challenger Mohamed Subey who garnered 3,888 votes.
The incumbent Abdikarim Osman came a distant third. Farah
vied on an independent ticket in 2017 and lost to Osman.
The constituency has been hardest hit by attacks
orchestrated by the al-Shabaab militants something has led to the stagnation in
terms of development.
Speaking in Bura East town durring a thanksgiving meeting,
Yakub who is commonly known by his supporters as ‘Hangool’ said the
constituency has stagnated in terms of development saying that it all boiled
down to security or lack of it.
The education sector has also been affected, with the
militants destroying almost all Safaricom masts in areas near the border and
also staging roadside IED attacks that target security and government
officials.
So serious is the insecurity issue that even during the just
concluded election, there were serious threats of attacks from the militants,
something that affected voter turnout in some poling stations.
The most deadly attack was in 2019 when five non-local
teachers were killed at Kamuthe Primary School.
The attacks prompted a mass exodus of the non-local teachers
who fled the constituency, seriously affecting education in the area.
“First and foremost I want to commend our security apparatus
for their good work, the Border patrol unit, KDF and other security agencies.
They managed to secure the election despite the threats,” he said.
His priority, he said, is to increase police stations along
the border since some of them were closed down and residents are not
comfortable with special forces from security agencies.
The constituency has only three police stations — Bura,
Hagadera and Galmagala.
"I want to take this opportunity to express my
gratitude for your contribution to this history-making success. Your blessings
and prayers were integral in our triumph. Now, let’s begin the journey of
restoring hope in our constituency," he told the gathering.
“We will also push for increase of national police
reservists who are residents and understand the terrain well so as to
complement efforts of government to counter terrorism, unfortunately most parts
especially those bordering Somalia have remained under developed due to
insecurity.”
The MP-elect also promised to get a permanent solution to the
problem non-local teachers leaving, accusing the Teachers Service Commission
for transferring teachers without coming up with alternative solutions.
“We will push for a quota system so that students can enroll
with lower grades and be posted to our schools, a system that is both
acceptable to TSC and is of benefit to our schools, and also increase enrolment
by providing uniform and other items to learners,” Yakub said.
“The education sector is that as stakeholders we must all
put our heads together and work on finding a permanent solution. Things cannot
be left to continue like this. Education is a basic right, which every child is
entitled to getting.”
Farah worked as Garissa county executive during Nathif
Jama’s first reign. He was later sacked alongside other officials. However, he
said that their dismal was unfair and ordered for compensation.