Kisii County leaders lay out plans for projects

By JAMES MBAKA

Kisii County: Political leaders from Kisii County have agreed to develop an integrated plan to avoid duplication of development projects.

Speaking after consultative talks in a Nairobi hotel, the leaders said the development blueprint would see proper utilisation of resources by the county government and those channelled through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) kitty.

Kisii Senator Chris Obure and Governor James Ongwae agreed to forge harmony in development projects in order of priority.

Obure said all the nine constituencies would identify key sectors of concern and pool resources from both the governor’s office and the CDF to jointly fund them to improve the livelihoods of the residents.

“Our ultimate goal is to initiate meaningful development projects that aim to fight poverty among our people, who are looking to us with optimism,” said Obure.

He said the MPs from the county had agreed to work closely with the county government irrespective of their political affiliations to deal with their common problems.

Governor Ongwae urged the leaders from different political parties to bury their differences to unite in the interests of development. “Our people are not interested in the parties that sponsored us to power, they want to realise the benefits of devolution, which can only trickle down to them if our leaders work to complement each other,” said Ongwae.

Elusive unity

The meeting attended by several MPs from the region also provided an opportunity for the governor to share with the other leaders his development plans after the release of the first tranche of the revenue allocation from the national government.

MPs were also given a platform to detail how they planned to utilise the CDF as an economic complement to the county resources to spur growth in the county endowed with a high number of resources ranging from cash crops to the unique soapstone.

In the past, elusive leaders’ unity through failure to synergise their resources to improve infrastructure has left the residents in poverty.

However, Deputy Governor Joash Maangi exuded confidence that the new found unity would go a long way in harmonising development projects that would transform the residents’ lives.

“The meeting, the first of its kind after the divisive March 4 elections, sought to unite us above political party differences,” said Maangi.

Bomachoge Chache MP Simon Ogari said the unity of purpose was long overdue.