Lawmakers from the North Eastern region are developing an ambitious plan aimed at ending decades of marginalization in the country’s frontier region.

After a three-day retreat in Mombasa, members of the North Eastern Parliamentary Group caucus called for affirmative action programs focusing on key sectors such as education, healthcare, water, security, and infrastructure.

The MPs are working on a comprehensive master plan for Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera counties that aligns with national development goals while addressing the region’s unique challenges. The strategic blueprint, they said, will drive economic growth, infrastructure development, and social progress in the long-neglected region.

Dadaab MP Farah Maalim, the patron of the parliamentary group, issued a sharp call for national intervention, urging the government to end decades of economic neglect that have left residents without basic rights.

“We need a Marshall Plan for the North Eastern region,” Maalim said, referencing the post-World War II recovery program that transformed Western Europe. “This region, comprising Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera, has been neglected by successive governments since independence in 1963. A comprehensive strategy is essential to redress this situation.”

Maalim outlined the region’s many challenges, including poor infrastructure, lack of electricity, poor learning conditions, and persistent insecurity. These issues, he said, have fueled a sense of disenfranchisement among the people of North Eastern Kenya.

“Sixty-one years after independence, this region remains the poorest and most troubled in the country,” Maalim added. “We are advocating for targeted economic uplift, with investments in critical sectors like infrastructure, water, energy, security, education, healthcare, and climate resilience.”