President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery to start the process of creating two sub-counties in Garissa following a request by leaders in the county.
Kenyatta said the Jubilee government will work with Garissa leaders to ensure the county has improved in terms of development so that the residents benefit.
“I agree with your request on sub-counties and I direct the Interior CS to start the process,” President Kenyatta said.
Kenyatta also ordered the release of 16,000 IDs that have been withheld during the vetting process which was being conducted by the Government on Kenyans living along the borders.
The vetting process was started in North Eastern for those seeking IDs and passports after most of the residents names appeared in the refugees data base.
Speaking at State House, the president further said that the government has agreed with Somalia to re-open the Doble-Liboi and Mandera-Bulla Hawa border points so as to monitor the movement of people and goods entering the country.
“We have agreed with Somalia to open the border at Liboi and Mandera for ease of movement of people, goods, and services,” said Kenyatta.
Last week, Industrialization Cabinet Secretary (CS) Aden Mohamed said the re-opening of the border points was long overdue since the government was losing millions of shillings in revenue since some of the goods were entering the country illegally.
“The closure of the border did little to prevent entry of contraband goods through the porous border. With enhanced security, it is only prudent to re-open the border to allow legal business to thrive while the government earns revenue in return,” he said.