Qanjara location is in Wajir West Sub-County and a home to local a community that has pastoral background. Inhabitants of this location have dropped their indigenous nomadic lifestyle due to recurrent drought caused by climate change which has continuously led to loss of livestock. Majority of the members of the local community are illiterate.
Together with the Wajir Paralegal Network (WAPNET), TI-Kenya conducted a series of public forums during the monthly community visits conducted under the social accountability project. In the public forums, key messages on integrity in humanitarian aid were delivered and local communities were sensitised on their basic rights to demand for quality service delivery from county governments and hold service providers accountable as they are taxpayers.
The community was made to understand that all sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya and it’s their responsibility to hold elected leaders accountable for better service delivery.
“Transparency International Kenya’s programme has opened our eyes and ears and we are very much grateful.”
In June 2015, community members identified their key problems and raised concerns about lack of basic health services in their location. Although access to basic health services is a universal and constitutional right, there was no a single health care facility including health personnel and supply of medicine in the area.
Qanjara Community members mobilised resources and selected 3 individuals to follow up with their elected Member of County Assembly and county administration, and question why they don’t have any health facility for the last 20 years since their location was created. Now a dispensary facility constructed in 2017 stands tall in Qanjara.
“We residents of Qanjara are mostly pastoralist who settled in this place 20 years ago after we lost our livestock to recurring droughts. For all these years, we never had basic health facilities and patients were either transferred to Habaswein or Wajir Town for treatment. We never thought we can stand up for our rights and hold elected leaders accountable. Transparency International Kenya’s programme has opened our eyes and ears and we are very much grateful. We now got a dispensary facility built and still following up with the county administration to post health workers and deliver adequate supply of medicine (sic). What we thought could be never achieved in the last 20 years is now in place.” Mr. Kusow, Qanjara resident.
