County eyes 600 jobs with new textile factory

Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu at the newly established Kitui County Textile Center (KICOTEC) in Syongila in Kitui Central on October 27, 2018. She reaffirmed her commitment to attain sustainable development to spur economic progress in the county. [Paul Mutua/Standard]

Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu has pledged to work towards sustainable development to spur economic progress in the county.

Ms Ngilu said her resolve was to open doors for residents to write a new chapter in their lives and promote use of locally produced goods.

Speaking at the newly established Kitui County Textile Centre (Kicotec) in Syongila, Kitui Central yesterday, the governor said the facility will cater for employment of local people and change their lives economically.

The governor reiterated that she has a clear agenda and a workable strategy that will enable her deliver campaign pledges to the residents. She promised to bring lasting change to the social-economic welfare of Kitui people using her five-pillar development agenda.

“At full capacity, Kicotec will work 24 hours employing over 600 young people. Each of the young people will earn a living here and build our economy,” said Ngilu.

Reduce cost

Addressing primary and secondary school head teachers from the eight sub-counties, Ngilu urged them to support the factory to reduce the cost of garments especially students’ uniforms and ensure that learners stay in school while parents retain money for other needs.

“I can say here today without fear of contradiction that this county will save millions of shillings from our own garment making. It is a big relief from the past where we used to import uniform and other school garments. This is a significant economic growth for us,” she said.

The governor said more than 90 per cent of money in the county went to outside counties such Nairobi, Thika, Kiambu and many others because Kitui lacked its own garment making factory for uniforms.

She said with an average of 486,000 students in schools, the county will save over Sh2 billion a year.