Isiolo County: The Land of Undiscovered Opportunities

A 285 kilometer drive from the capital city of Nairobi to the upper Eastern part of Kenya one would come across the beautiful hills, valleys, acacia trees and the Savannah grasslands. The road is tarmac giving the globetrotter a smooth drive to this part of the country that is Isiolo County.

Isiolo county borders  Garissa to the east, Wajir to the north east, Meru to the south west, Samburu to the east and Marsabit to the north west, with Kitui and Tana River counties to the south west and south east giving out a good opportunity for inter trade in the region.

The inhabitants of Isiolo are mostly cushites whom are pastoralist a good reason why they settled in the semi-arid area even though they were the first to migrant in the Country.

Isiolo the Investment Hub

The town has experienced some growth in the last few years with the most significant one being the Isiolo Airport which is still under construction. This has seen the town being touted as the future Capital city

Future resort city, a railway center, an oil depot and the center point of the LAPPSET project are also among other big transformation the city is expected to witness.

The area has faced inter community war brought about by the planned projects due to interest in the surrounding land. Isiolo and Meru County have been involved in a row over the boundary with Isiolo residents claiming that the 1963 map of the 47 Kenyan districts upon which the current Counties are based was altered and parts of Isiolo town hived off to Meru County.

With all the rows going on the government needs to invest more in security to ensure investors who are trickling in the area at their security is of great importance to the county

Ewaso Nyiro River is also among what the county boasts of having, This River is to Isiolo County what Lake Victoria is to Kisumu. A bit of irrigation is going on along the edges but more opportunity is yet to be tapped. The land areas of dry land can be put to use in large scale irrigation.

The town has also witnessed the growth of commercial banks .the growth of the banks is aimed at tapping the economic growth potential based on the Lamu port South Sudan Ethiopia transport (Lapsset) corridor.

This is an opportunity for the real estate company to invest in the area. Storage facilities, residential homes and offices will be needed in the area because of the upcoming Airport and the growing number of business people who are migrating to the area

Isiolo the Tourist Destination

The county is also a tourist destination for both local and international tourist. Isiolo is home to Shaba National Reserve, Buffalo Spring National Reserve among others which have come to be among the top preferred destination in the Northern part of Kenya.

Tortoise hill and sleeping lion are among the incredible sites that one will come across not forgetting the magnificent wild life like the African buffalos, Rhinoceros, cheetahs just to mention few.

The movies Born Free, Out of African and the reality show Survive Africa have been shoot the national reserve a proud the county takes in.

Politics of Isiolo County

Just like all the other parts of the country Isiolo too has its share story of its politic. With jubilee being the main political party in the area one would expect a peaceful environment but the leaders from TNA and URP are always in cat fight. Analysts attribute all these disunity among the county political leaders to clannism.

Clan politics and differences started to surface immediately after the closely contested 2013 general election with MPs and MCAs talking of other clans being sidelined by Godana Doyo, the Governor because of their support for an opponent during the past election.

With all this in mind, 2017 will definitely be a contest to watch out for in the county.