Our journey started way back in 2006, and in pursuit of value addition projects, we were approached by the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce Isiolo Branch, who gave us the mandate to mobilise resources for the Isiolo Component of Kenya Vision 2030. We got a letter from the then District Commissioner, recognizing our initiative and giving us the go ahead, while pledging his support on our overtures. ( letter, Ref: ADM/CONF/47/VO.1/(8). It is after a lot of back and forth between the
ministries and other public institutions, that prepared and handed in a 160 page Isiolo Community Integration and Mobilization of Financial Resources preliminary feasibility report to H.E. the President, Mwai Kibaki ( 29 th march 2010 herein). This report was taken up by the Ministry of State for the Development of Northern Kenya and Other Arid Lands (now the Directorate of Arid & Semi- Arid Lands in the Ministry of Devolution and Planning) see attached their response letter (Ref: MDONK/PROJ/7/1 (58), forwarded to the External Resources Department of the Treasury ( Attached letters (Ref: MDONK/PROJ/7/1 VOL.11 and Ref: MDONK/PROJ/7/1 VOL.11/61) ), and onward to the Kenya Investment Authority (Keninvest). In September 2010, our paradigm – Domestic Direct Investment (DDI) was endorsed and approved by the Kenya Investment Authority as Isiolo Integrated and Planned Hub’ (II&PH). Essentially, DDI’s generate and propagate domestic (and by extension community) ownership and control, by leveraging of the community’s productive assets. As a result of several presentations, the Kenya Investment Authority, in objective agreement with our DDI paradigm, recognized Santiza International as their administrative agents. See attached letters ( Ref: KenInvest/IS/0112/G and Ref: Keninvest/IS/0112/G).
Water is key and a serious requirement in Isiolo County and its environs, hence our request to the Water and Resources Management to do an hydrological survey to ascertain the most feasible sources of water to explore. See attached letter from WARMA clearing us for the exploratory
survey. ( Ref. WRMA/ENNCA/MEN/Adm/1/22/(82) ). Our 12 year journey has not been without challenges, the main being the fact that when we started way back in 2006, the Legal, Policy and Institutional Framework for Public Private Partnership (PPP) was not in place, and which is essentially our chosen path in terms of project implementation. See attached letter from the Treasury (Ref: ZZ.253/016). We have also been faced with major setbacks in bringing funds into the country for the various projects, and as a result, we at one point sought clarification from the Central Bank. See attached letter dated 8th June, 2011. We are currently undertaking projects that are purely community driven away from the chronic bureaucracy and red tape. We are in the process of establishing a working relationship with the County Government of Isiolo. Major milestone is that we have signed two MOU’s with the government of Southern Sudan, on an Oil Block and an Oil Pipeline.