Paul Chepkwony gives priority to road, water projects

Improvement of the road network is one of the five key areas Governor Paul Chepkwony is banking on to bring economic growth of between 20 and 30 per cent in Kericho County over the next three years.

To ease the movement of goods and people, and attract investors, Prof Chepkwony’s government has given priority to road construction and upgrading. Over the past year, 450 kilometres of new murram roads have been built at a cost of Sh450 million.

“We are building feeder roads in Kericho like never before. This year, we have nearly doubled the budgetary allocation to the roads docket. We hope to construct at least 700 kilometres of new roads and do the remainder next year,” he said.

The second sector Prof Chepkwony is focusing on is water. His plan is to ensure that 95 per cent of all households in the county are connected to clean drinking water by 2017.

The plan is already being implemented, especially after the county government secured Sh1.4 billion from a German financial institution, KfW, which would be channelled to the Kericho Water and Sanitation Company and the Tililbei water project.

Information, communication and technology infrastructure is also being given priority, with plans to digitise county government offices.

An ICT centre with 60 computers connected to the Internet was recently launched in Kericho Town. The county government has also distributed over 150 computers to selected secondary schools and polytechnics in the region.

“We will continue until we roll-out free Wi-Fi across the county,” Prof Chepkwony said.

The fourth sector the governor is focusing on to speed up Kericho’s development is energy. The county seeks to attract investors to enable it to reduce its reliance on electricity distributed by Kenya Power.

This, said Prof Chepkwony, would be done by exploiting solar and wind resources to generate alternative and reliable power for use by residents as well as companies in the county.

The other sector that is getting attention is agriculture, the backbone of Kericho County. At least 70 per cent of residents engage in crop and animal production.

Tea growing, which the county is well-known for, and the cultivation of coffee, sugarcane and stevia, have been on the rise.

The governor said that the growing interest among businesspeople to invest in the county was due to the low level of insecurity in the region.

FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

According to Prof Chepkwony, the formula for success in every county is unity of its leadership.

“This is one devolved unit where the governor works very well with the county commissioner and all the 47 members of the county assembly, who play a big role in developing the region. I am grateful that they have been very supportive of my government,” he said.