Erastus Lokaale left high-profile UN job to serve residents

Turkana County assembly Speaker Erastus Ekitela Lokaale. PHOTO | SAMMY LUTTA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • After the 2013 elections, he was approached to vie for the position but having just been appointed to head a critical Sh5 billion programme in the country, he declined the offer preferring to oversee the new assignment to its conclusion.

Leaving a high-profile United Nations job where he was in charge of over Sh5 billion to give orders to the often rowdy Turkana MCAs was not easy.

In 2013, Turkana County assembly Speaker Erastus Ekitela Lokaale, 39, was approached to take over the job but he turned down the offer.

But five years later, he accepted it after he was convinced by local leaders who he said thought he was skilled and most suitable to take charge of the assembly.

Mr Lokaale worked with the United Nations Development Programme before he was picked to be the Speaker.

UNDP PROJECT

After the 2013 elections, he was approached to vie for the position but having just been appointed to head a critical Sh5 billion programme in the country, he declined the offer preferring to oversee the new assignment to its conclusion.

In an interview with the Nation, he said he had just been promoted to oversee the project that deals with more than 300 groups across the country. The project dealt with grant awards and training.

He said he also did not want to compete with one of his friends who had already declared interest in the seat

“Former county Speaker Geoffrey Kaituko was a very close friend. We went to University of Nairobi together although he was ahead of me. He had just declared interest in the seat when I was approached. I don’t believe that friends should scramble for things. I believed that he could do a great job so I opted out and offered him my support,” said Mr Lokaale.

When Mr Kaituko left the seat to run for the Senate on a Jubilee ticket in the August elections, Mr Lokaale was approached again to fill the gap and this time around he accepted. “Turkana is going through interesting times with devolution, oil and gas discoveries, discoveries of huge water aquifers being critical matters.

NASA

Professional sons and daughters from the community should be on board to help in guiding the community on these matters of importance,” said the Speaker, a lawyer who has practised for 14 years.

He said he decided to take the post in order to help improve the distribution of the county’s resources for development.

“If we don’t get the right people to occupy positions of influence and guide the community, we will lose out on many opportunities,” he said.

Mr Lokaale said although he was fronted by Nasa for the seat, he will serve all members equally.

He said he expected all the MCAs to come up with and pass budgets, laws and policies that put interests of residents first in a bid to improve their livelihoods.

“We want to ensure that we prioritise the critical needs of all residents either in towns or far-flung villages which include access to clean water, food, good roads and health services,” he said.