By Wajir Today Reporter
Youth in Wagalla, a remote hamlet about 14km west of Wajir town, are no longer bored, thanks to the recently installed free public Wi-Fi by the national government. The service is offering them an opportunity to browse, chat, and chill in the world of social media.
Many youths in the sleepy hamlet are now bouncing off the walls day and night to enjoy free internet from the GOK WiFi signal.
Generally, youths in this part of the country are a forgotten lot, often wallowing in the ceaseless miasma of joblessness.
The free internet, installed on Friday, 25 July 2025, is not enough to meet their long list of demands, but at least it gives them a new wave of excitement to surf the net without spending a coin.
Youth leader Ismail Abdi Issack, popularly known as Ismail Malaria, says Wagalla youth have lauded the national government initiative, part of a cross-border project funded by the World Bank through the Ministry of Information, Communications and Digital Economy.
“Majority of internet users are youth and they are very proud of the step taken by the government which eased the burden of buying expensive data,” says Mr. Ismail.
Local youths are upbeat about the new development, often gathering around the facility hosting the Wi-Fi equipment to get the strongest signal. Wagalla youth are now able to follow local and international happenings far better than before, when the high cost of data bundles locked many of them out.
“The youth are actually excited about the rollout of the public Wi-Fi and it has opened new doors for even accessing real-time news and current affairs. We can simply term it a powerful step towards digital empowerment,” Mr. Yussuf observes.
First ward
Wagalla is lucky to be the first ward to install free internet in the vast county. The project is part of 25,000 public WiFi hotspots that the Kenya Kwanza government pledged under the Horn of Africa Gateway Development Project.
Wagalla Senior Chief Ali Mohamed Abdullahi lauded the government’s initiative to install free internet, not just for youth, but across several public institutions now connected via fibre link.
“This week the government installed a free WiFi for us. The youth who have smartphones enjoy. This is the first ward to enjoy free WiFi. It helps a lot and we thank the government,” Chief Ali said.
The youth and general public are happy that the cost of accessing the internet in the settlement will drop with the introduction of GOK WiFi.
“We now have GOK WiFi. Initially, we used about 100 shillings to buy internet bundles, translating to Ksh. 3,000 per month that was an extra bill for us,” noted Ms. Halima Bishar Abdullahi, the chairlady of the Rangeland Management Committee for Wagalla-Ganyure Ward.
“It will help secondary and university students with their online studies. It will also reduce the burden of extra monthly bills for parents who used to purchase data for online classes” Ms. Halima noted
For upcoming online content creators like the youthful Hanad Roble, the free internet in Wagalla is a timely intervention that will help many generate content without incurring costs.
“As current generation we value internet. I personally use TikTok which is the most popular among the youth. The free internet has particular interest for us. We used to delay posting our contents due to lack of data bundles but now we post it immediately,” says a happy Hanad.
It is a new feat for the youth in Wagalla, a welcome intervention that will help them access timely online information, create more content, and become active on social media.
