MARSABIT — A mother from Oltorot in Laisamis Sub-County who gave birth to quintuplets on Monday is appealing to well-wishers to help her meet the needs of her newborns.

Nchauni Lemoitanit delivered three boys and two girls through normal delivery on Monday at the Marsabit County Referral and Training Hospital. Speaking from her hospital bed, Lemoitanit expressed her overwhelming joy after nearly five years of marriage without a child.

“I am so grateful to God for the blessing of these five angels. We waited for a long time. The arrival of the five babies has been warmly received by the family and the entire community,” she said.

Hospital management noted that this is the first time a quintuplet delivery has been recorded at the facility. Marsabit County Referral Hospital CEO Kussu Abduba confirmed that both the mother and the babies are in stable condition.

“The babies are in our newborn unit because they are of low birth weight, between 840g and 1,000g. Doctors and nurses are closely monitoring them,” Mr. Kussu said, adding that the babies have been placed in incubators under round-the-clock care. He also noted that Lemoitanit had faithfully attended antenatal clinics at the Oltorot Dispensary throughout her pregnancy.

Hadija Anno, a nurse in the newborn unit, and Elinsi Karegi, a maternity nurse, shared in the joy of the rare arrival. They recalled that the mother was admitted around noon with an ultrasound scan report indicating she was carrying triplets. However, after safely delivering the first three babies, healthcare workers discovered two more, successfully assisting her through the full delivery.

While the facility has provided Lemoitanit with an initial mother-baby kit and pledged ongoing medical support, Mr. Kussu urged the public to step in and assist the family with long-term care for the five infants.

“The hospital will support the mother and babies, but we also appeal to people of goodwill to support the mother and the babies,” he said.

MARSABIT— The Marsabit County Government has called on pastoralists to embrace science, technology, and modern markets as key to securing livelihoods, even as it declared pastoralism central to the county’s economy and identity.

Speaking during the opening of the two-day Marsabit Pastoralist Communities Dialogue Forum, Governor Mohamud Mohammed Ali said the 2026 International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists was a reminder that pastoral communities are not a “development problem to be solved.”

“Pastoralism is not a relic of the past. It is a living economy, a knowledge system, a cultural inheritance and a climate-adaptation strategy. Marsabit stands at the heart of that story. As the world prepares for deliberations in Mongolia, it must not discuss us without hearing us,” Governor Ali said.

The forum brought together elders, women, youth, herders, and representatives from Moyale, Saku, Laisamis, and North Horr. It was convened by the Center for Research and Development in Drylands (CRDD) with UN funding, and also included pastoralists from Isiolo.

Governor Ali acknowledged growing pressure on drylands: more frequent droughts, strained water sources, shrinking grazing corridors, land degradation, and conflict over resources. He said markets remain uncertain, animal-health services are stretched, and “too much livestock value is captured far from the producers who carry the greatest risk.”

But he insisted Marsabit must not be defined only by crisis. “We are rich in livestock, land, culture, indigenous knowledge, enterprise and resilience. Our task is to convert these strengths into dignity, prosperity and security,” he said.

The governor outlined county priorities: protecting grazing areas and livestock routes, strengthening water and animal-health systems, improving markets and value addition, and supporting drought preparedness.

He cited ongoing programmes including the Kenya Livestock Commercialization Project, which supports the Maikona sale yard and goat enterprises; DRIVE, which provides drought-index livestock insurance; FLLoCA for community-led climate action; and the Food Systems Resilience Program for fodder production. “These initiatives cannot operate as separate islands. We must build synergy around one pastoral household, one shared landscape and measurable results,” he said.

Deputy Governor Solomon Gubo Riwe urged communities to manage resources with integrity to sustain them even during drought. CRDD Executive Director Dr. Hussein Tadicha said the forum will feed into the Global Pastoralist Gathering in Mongolia next month.

Governor Ali made a direct appeal to women and young people. “Pastoralist women sustain households and hold communities together. Their contribution must be matched by decision-making power,” he said. “To our young people, pastoralism must not be a choice between tradition and progress. Technology, digital markets, veterinary science and finance can make the livestock economy more productive and attractive.”

He also lauded President William Ruto for creating a dedicated department and allocating funds to pastoralist areas.

The forum adopted the Marsabit Pastoral Declaration, which the governor said must be “a practical compact” to be integrated into county planning and pushed to national and regional levels.

“Let this forum affirm a simple truth, pastoralism is not standing in the way of development. Pastoralism is part of the development-future of Marsabit, Kenya and the world,” he declared before officially opening the forum.

MARSABIT – Former councillors who served in Marsabit County between 1963 and 2013 have renewed calls on the National Government to urgently address their pension and benefits, saying they have waited for years in vain.

Speaking to journalists in Marsabit town, the leaders, led by former MCA Adan Chukulisa, said they were the foundation of devolution through their service in local authorities commonly known as County councils before the advent of county governments, and therefore deserve recognition.

They said, neglect and living in abject poverty describe the life of many of them who served local governments from independence to pre-devolution era.

“We were at the forefront of promoting peace and cohesion in Marsabit. We laid the groundwork for devolution. It is time the government recognized our service and paid what is due to us,” Mr. Chukulisa said.

The former councillors said they submitted a memorandum to the government demanding about Sh1.5 million for each ex-councillor. 

According to them, the memorandum reached Parliament but later stalled at the National Treasury, delaying any response.

More than 100 former councillors in Marsabit are affected. Many, they said, are living in hardship due to the delay.

The leaders now plan to engage Regional Commissioner, Governor Mohamud Ali and other relevant leaders to secure a direct meeting with President William Ruto. 

“We are ready to support President Ruto politically if the National Government listens to our cry and fulfills the promise to pay us our pensions,” they said.

The former councillors also urged residents, especially youth, to register for National IDs and as voters. 

They lauded the government’s decision to scrap vetting in Northern Kenya, saying residents deserve equal rights to identification documents.

The leaders urged Marsabit residents to embrace peace, unity and solidarity, saying real development is built in an environment of stability and cooperation.

They further thanked President Ruto for recognizing pastoralist communities by giving them opportunities in government.

On the pension issue, the government has said the main challenge has been the lack of a legal framework to facilitate payment. The Senate continues to push for a permanent solution.