The battle for Kisumu governor is getting more competitive with Senator Anyang' Nyong’o launching a manifesto that puts food security on top of his development agenda.
Nyong’o unveiled a 10-point strategic development agenda promising alternative change by way of governance as his rival Governor Jack Ranguma cheekily acknowledged his theories as ‘wonderful’.
Ranguma claimed that Prof Nyong’o was good in theory but some of the ideas contained in his manifesto were outrageous and impractical.
He claimed that some of the projects Prof Nyong’o envisages were only implementable in industrialised countries with sound infrastructure.
Nyong’o's promised to revitalise agriculture and promote agri-business to make the domestic economy vibrant.
The total acreage under food crops, sugarcane, maize, rice, sweet potatoes, kales and groundnuts in the county is estimated at 26,865 acres. The manifesto says it was sad that the county was a net importer of finished products while it had a great potential to produce a surplus with right farming practices.
He cited the rice farming in Ahero, which he said was overlooked by the current regime yet it was highly in demand with Kenya spending up to Sh7 billion a year to import the grain to meet the deficit.
"Ahero rice farming, with available land of about 45,500 hectares, can be revived and made more vibrant with good irrigation and modern farming methods," says Nyong’o.
He also pledged to build a modern infrastructure, promote skills and innovation, conserve the environment and open the Kisumu lake front for business in the manifesto.
He promised to improve the structures of devolved governance to strengthen revenue generation and accountability of public funds and create a 24-hour economy.
"We shall widen the tax base while reducing the tax rate. Weak revenue collection and outright theft of what is collected will be eliminated," said Nyong’o.
In what attracted a chorus of applause from sections of Kisumu leaders, Prof Nyong'o promised to set up five-member village councils in all the seven sub-counties to help him manage the county.
"I will form village councils as is articulated in the law to help work up communities and propose viable development ideas which will help promote faster development," promised the senator.
His leadership together with his running mate, Dr Mathews Owilli, will focus on an inductive approach with the generation of new development ideas right from the grassroots levels.
"Ours will not be a top-down bottom approach but a bottom-up administrative system that will involve all the people of Kisumu directly or indirectly through their select representatives," Owilli explained.
Nyando MP Fred Outa , who is an ODM senate nominee, said Kisumu had done little to attract investors. The leaders cited the Kisumu International Airport where no single international flight had landed.
The same applied to the sugar industry which is in a financial crisis as is the fish one among several others.
Owilli announced that after victory, they will carry out a forensic audit to recover millions of shillings allegedly misappropriated by the Ranguma regime.
