Vihiga governor Wilber Ottichilo (centre) and his deputy Patrick Lumumba
(left) host a team from Esri last week at the county offices. PHOTO |
COURTESY
Summary
County governments in Kenya are still grappling with
implementation of devolved governance since inception in 2013. One of
the challenges is how to automate services to improve efficiency as well
as seal loopholes through which billions of shillings are lost to
corruption.
Again most county managers consider
acquisition of fancy devices such as iPads and other mobile devices as a
key plank in their policies for going digital.
The
County Governments Act 2012 requires the devolved units to embrace
spatial technologies in management of their affairs but many are yet to
correctly implement this part of the law.
To bridge
this gap three companies, France-based Airbus Defence and Space and
US-based Esri together with Kenya-based LocateIT have selected Vihiga as
a model county in a partnership that will see the deployment of space
technologies and geographic information systems (GIS) to facilitate
planning and management.
GIS uses location-based data collected via satellites, paper
maps, and directly from the field through mobile positioning devices to
map out resources for analysis and decision-making.
Vihiga
governor Wilber Ottichilo, a space technologies and GIS expert,
implemented the technology when he was Emuhaya MP that saw him voted the
best performing lawmaker based on his development record and use of
Constituency Development Fund in May 2015.
“Esri,
Airbus and LocateIT previously supported Governor Wilber Ottichilo
during his tenure as Emuhaya MP where innovative use of space technology
and GIS was deployed. Esri is keen to continue this support and further
develop smart solutions for Africa, modelled on Vihiga under the
leadership of Dr Ottichilo,” said Esri general manager, West Asia,
Middle East and Africa, Sohail El Abd.
According to
Erick Khamala, the managing director of LocateIT, the local partner of
Airbus and Esri, the two global companies have donated a satellite image
and GIS software to support implementation of the County Development
Information System (CDIS) conceptualised by the Kenyan company and
designed for Vihiga.
“The integrated system will help
the county to efficiently manage its resources such as forests, water,
farmlands, minerals, wildlife and wetlands. We will also support the
county to develop spatial plans and enhance various social amenities
such as schools, hospitals and dispensaries, markets, recreational parks
and police stations,” said Mr Khamalla, who helped develop a similar
system for Emuhaya.
Dr Ottichilo says use of technology is key to driving development agenda as Vihiga governor.
“I
want to have ICT as the foundation and platform on which I should
transact my development agenda. It is the enabler for all our
development agenda from planning to implementation,” he told Business Daily.
“We
are planning in one or two years to install video conferencing
facilities in our sub-counties so that we can just talk from our offices
without having to have a meeting out there.”
Mr
Khamala says the system will be linked to sub-counties to streamline
operations and support administrators, MPs and MCAs in service delivery.
“The
CDIS is also expected to help in budgeting and revenue collection as
well provide evidence on development needs, thereby attracting support
from development partners and well-wishers,” he said.
Says
Mr Abd of Airbus: “Residents and stakeholders will benefit from more
informed decision-making by their leadership, transparency in service
delivery, and feedback mechanisms enabled by reliable monitoring and
evaluation tools.”
Airbus
Defence and Space, eastern Africa sales manager Eric Andreu said in the
initial phase the company has provided full satellite image coverage of
the entire 560km² of Vihiga County at 50cm spatial resolution to enable
preparation of “reference maps”.
“For Airbus, each
development challenge represents an opportunity to strengthen geospatial
information benefits for county citizens, turning into a multiplier of
socio-economic development,” he said.
As part of good
governance, Dr Ottichilo says, he embraced GIS because the technology
allows for rational decision making that is not biased or politically
motivated and “you can explain why you are building a health centre in
point A and not point B because it is based on known criteria,”
“GIS
is the planning tool. We will collect all the data and that is where we
have Airbus coming in because they are the experts in satellite
technology and they’ll be providing us with images frequently to help us
closely monitor on-going development projects” the governor said.
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