Mandera Senator Ali Roba hits back at critics over Northern Kenya’s development record
By Cy Muganda, January 10, 2026Mandera Senator Ali Roba has fired back at critics who have mocked Northern Kenya’s infrastructure development, accusing them of ignoring decades of deliberate marginalisation and the region’s remarkable achievements through devolution.
In a strongly worded statement posted on his X account on Saturday, January 10, 2026, Roba referenced the famous “let them eat cake” remark attributed to Marie Antoinette, arguing that mocking Northern Kenya for lacking skyscrapers reflects privilege blinded by abundance.
“When leaders mock Northern Kenya for lacking skyscrapers, they erase Kenya’s truth: almost all glittering national infrastructure—national schools, colleges, and industries—was built for other regions, while our region was left behind for over 50 years under colonial rule and 60 years post-independence,” Roba stated.
National government functions
The Mandera Senator stated that devolution found the region’s sectors virtually non-existent, forcing pioneer governors to build everything from scratch.
Due to this, he stated that Northern Kenya counties have been forced to use devolution funds to undertake functions that are constitutionally the responsibility of the national government.
“Using devolution funds, we built technical training colleges (a national government function), teachers’ training college (national), medical training college (national), urban roads in Mandera town (national), paid for KPR (national), and supported national security infrastructure,” Roba disclosed.
He explained that these interventions were not made because counties had money to spare, but because insecurity and decades of neglect made them an inevitable necessity.
“Without these interventions, our counties would have been left ungovernable,” the senator said.
Challenge to critics
Roba issued a direct challenge to those ridiculing Northern Kenya’s development record, asking them to make objective comparisons based solely on devolution investments.
“Northern leaders are not perfect, but no one has moral authority to ridicule us unless they can objectively compare devolution investments alone across regions,” he stated.
He expressed confidence that when decades of national government investment in other regions are removed from the equation, there is very little that compares with what Northern Kenya has achieved through devolution alone.
“I guarantee you: remove decades of national government investment elsewhere, and there is very little to compare with what Northern Kenya built through devolution alone,” Roba asserted.