Chepalungu Member of Parliament (MP) Victor Koech has been pushing to have Chepalungu Sub-County recognized as a hardship area.

In parliament proceedings on Thursday, April 2, 2026, Koech rose to follow up on the petition to gazette the constituency as a hardship zone.

On November 30, 2023, the lawmaker presented a petition at the parliament which detailed the “harsh climatic conditions” and severe infrastructural deficits facing the region.

Case for hardship status

During submissions before the Public Petitions Committee, Koech gave out the picture of life in Chepalungu.

Koech noted that Chepalungu Sub-County meets the requirements of a hardship area due to its land being purely black cotton soil and fairly flat terrain leading to deplorable road networks that have to be redone every year, hampering movements amongst the locals, lack of clean drinking water and basic social amenities, among others.

“The harsh climatic conditions in Chepalungu Sub-County had become a great concern to the residents who were left with no clear sources of livelihood,” the petition read.

The geographical orientation and rugged rocky terrain in most parts of the sub-county have made it impossible for public service providers, among them the Kenya Power & Lighting Company, to access the villages, leading to extremely low electricity connections.

The fairly flat terrain and poor road network infrastructure make the area inaccessible, with limited access to clean water and equally low access to water for farming, with surveys showing that the water table is at an average depth of 220 meters below the surface, with low yields, making the process of drawing underground water very expensive and uneconomical.

Effect on teachers

Koech noted that teachers are increasingly reluctant to work in the area, with many seeking transfers to neighbouring Narok West and Emurua Dikirr, both of which are already gazetted as hardship areas.

He said currently, approximately 15 primary schools in the sub-county lack substantive headteachers.

“Many schools in this constituency are understaffed because teachers prefer areas with better living conditions. Declaring Chepalungu a hardship area will help bridge this gap,” Koech noted.

The petition presented also noted that the constituency had 201 primary and 97 secondary schools with shortages of teachers, as many teachers posted were hesitant to come and those working in the region sought transfers due to hardship and poor working conditions.

The delocalisation and lack of hardship allowance had occasioned mass transfer of teachers to neighbouring areas such as Emurua Dikirr and Narok which were gazetted.

This had led to low education standards and the region. The constituency faced a challenge of infrastructural development as many contractors were reluctant to take jobs due to the deep black cotton soil and constructed roads were potholed shortly after construction.