Five CSs to inspect projects in Western region

A high-profile government team will be in Western Kenya today and tomorrow to inspect the state of various projects in the region following a directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The team comprises Cabinet Secretaries Peter Munya (Agriculture), John Munyes (Mining), Sicily Kariuki (Water), James Macharia (Transport) and Mutahi Kagwe (Health). They will assess infrastructural work in Trans Nzoia, Bungoma and Kakamega counties.

A team led by Mr Munya will visit the ailing Mumias Sugar Factory in Kakamega County, whose rehabilitation has faced constant hiccups and is currently crippled after Kenya Power disconnected supply due to unpaid electricity bills.

The Munya-led team will also visit  Nzoia Sugar Company in Bungoma County and meet  with leaders from the regions and hold a briefing on sugar sector reforms after the inspection visits.

The Agriculture CS will be at Alupe University on Tuesday where he is expected to meet Governor Sospeter Ojaamong, the local leadership and the county emergency team on the revival of the cotton industry.

The Health CS will also be visiting  the region for the first time and will give the daily Covid-19 status updates from the  Kakamega County Referral Hospital this afternoon after visiting the Trans Nzoia County  Referral Hospital this morning.

Tuesday, Mr Kagwe will give the Covid-19 status update from Busia County.

A team led by the Transport CS will visit  the Kakamega Airstrip where rehabilitation work was launched recently, and inspect  the Nangina Airstrip in Busia county.

The Transport CS will also work on the Busia-Malaba road, Kakamega-Navakholo-Musikoma road, Chepsonoi road, Kitale-Suam-Endebess-Kwanza road, Gisambai-Shamakhokho –Musena road, Ekwanda-Luanda-Esirulo-Magada road and launch the construction of the Misikhu-Brigadier road.

The visits come two months after Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa were named the region’s spokespersons to push its development agenda, including the revival of stalled projects and millers.

In Vihiga, the Water CS will inspect and launch the Sh1.7 million cluster water project funded by Belgium,

The contractor working on the mega project left the country when the first cases of Covid-19 were reported, and it is not clear whether he has returned to the site.

The Water CS will also inspect and officially launch the Kiptogot Kolongolo water project in Trans-Nzoia County.

Meanwhile, Mr Munyes will -visit the granite factory in Vihiga, where the county government will hand over the operations to the national government.

Mr Oparanya said the visits indicate that President Kenyatta is committed to ensuring that all the stalled projects in the region are revived.“When we started meetings with the national government to discuss the region’s development,our detractors [ANC leader Moses Mudavadi and Ford-Kenya’s Moses Wetang’ula) hurled insults at us but the good thing is that we have made positive progress,” Mr Oparanya yesterday.

The Council of Governors Chairman exuded confidence that after two years, the Western region will have made huge economic strides.

“Our agenda is to have two major development projects initiated in each county, and we have the full backing of the President. The projects include factories, water projects and roads,” he said.

The governor urged the locals to support the government to enable the region to achieve its development agenda.

A number of CSs are racing against time to ensure that projects in their dockets are completed within the stipulated time as ordered by President Uhuru Kenyatta in order to offer employment to thousands of jobless youths in the country.

Top officials from various ministries have in the last few weeks been criss-crossing the country to ensure the completion of the multi-million projects that will offer jobs to Kenyans during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen many people lose their jobs.

This past weekend, Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise Development Chief Administrative Secretary Laurence Karanja was in Kisii County to inspect the constituency industrial development centres in Kitutu Chache North, Bonchari, Nyaribari Chache and the Banana Cold Storage facility at Kiamokama in Nyaribari Masaba.

The industrial development centre in Marani, Kitutu Chache North, is nearing completion and Mr Karanja promised to speed up its construction and the installation of equipment to make it operational.

At Suneka in Bonchari Constituency, the old facility which is already manufacturing Personal Protective Equipment, leather shoes, dried vegetables and clothes needs to be upgraded.

“The President ordered us to get out of our comfort zones and move to the rural villages and find out how small and micro entrepreneurs are coping with the Covid-19 situation and how they are responding to the pandemic,” Mr Karanja said at Suneka.

He said the government had set aside Sh650 million through the Small and Micro Enterprise Authority for lending to small traders.

The CAS’ visit came barely a month after a visit by a high-powered national government powered delegation led by Nyanza Regional Commissioner James Kianda to the banana processing facility in Kiamokama.