Economic bloc has little to show after six years

In 2013, governors at the Coast formed Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani (JKP), an economic bloc that was geared towards the region’s economic empowerment.

Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya is the JKP chairman with Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho as his deputy.

In accepting JKP, the governors bought the idea of a group of Coast young professionals then running the Coast People’s Forum, which was used to outline various issues facing the region.

INFIGHTING
But six years later, the much hyped JKP has nothing to show with accusations and counter-accusations being the order of the day.

Several interviews carried out by the Nation revealed infighting, with politics blamed for the woes facing the outfit.

It also emerged that the architects of the idea are no longer speaking with the same voice, especially after Mr Mvurya decamped from ODM to Jubilee.

Although Mombasa Deputy Governor William Kingi and engineer Alphonce Mbaru insist that JKP is still active, Kilifi North MP Owen Baya poured cold water on the claim, saying the idea was hijacked by people who were not privy to its formation and it died a natural death.

The three were among the people who came up with the idea of JKP; Mr Baya was then a lecturer at Pwani University, while Dr Kingi was teaching at Technical University of Mombasa.

They teamed up with Mr Mbaru to start the initiative.

STRATEGIC PLAN
Speaking in his office on Tuesday, Dr Kingi said the officials were busy implementing the resolutions reached during the first economic symposium in 2015 in Kwale. 

“As we speak now, we have a draft document of two of the 12 economic sectors we wanted to act on as JKP.

"In 2016, we received Sh11 million from Food and Agriculture Organisation (Fao) to come up with a blueprint for the agriculture, livestock and health sectors.

"We used part of the funds to prepare a legal framework for JKP. We are waiting for an appropriate time for Fao to launch the two sectors,” Dr Kingi said.

“We had outlined 14 sectors that would be used to draft our strategic plan for the JKP.

"Out of them, two are now ready and we are busy looking for more donors to come on board and assist in drafting an economic blueprint for the other sectors,” he said.

LEADERSHIP
But Mr Baya said the agenda of the founders had been eroded after some “professionals” hijacked the idea.

He said the death of the JKP was pronounced after academicians, instead of administrators, came on board.

“JKP is now an academic club. Politicians took a back seat. JKP needs proper leadership and proper thinking because that is where we have a problem,” Mr Baya said.

Mr Mbaru, however, differed with the legislator and said that most of the JKP ideas have been documented in all County Integrated Development Plans.

“As we speak, the roadmap for the economic bloc is on course.”