Awiti gives first state of county address

From left, Homa Bay Deputy Governor Hamilton Orata, Governor Cyprian Awiti, Senator Moses Kajwang’ and the County Assembly Speaker Elizabeth Ayoo interact in the county assembly premises on March 17, 2021. (James Omoro, Standard)

Homa Bay Governor Cyprian Awiti wants the national government to work with his administration in issuing licences to cage fish farmers in Lake Victoria.

On Wednesday, Mr Awiti who delivered a State of the County address for the first time since his re-election in 2017 said the management of Lake Victoria is a shared function between the national government and the county government, and therefore his office should be involved in the licensing.

“The national government has been issuing licences to cage investors without involving the county government. This needs to be streamlined,” Awiti said.

CUSHION FARMERS

He was accompanied by his deputy Hamilton Orata, Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’, County Secretary Isaiah Ogwe, Speaker Elizabeth Ayoo, county executives Nicholas Koriko (Finance), Richard Muga (Health), Aguko Juma (Agriculture), Dickson Nyawinda (Water) and Fredrick Odero (Sports).

The county currently has about 1,000 fish cages in Lake Victoria, within its territory.

Awiti also announced that the county government will launch a newly-constructed Sh25.7 million warehouse in two weeks to cushion farmers from post-harvest losses.

The project aims at ensuring sustainable grain supply, stabilising grain market prices and enabling farmers to get value for their produce.

“The office block is already finished with the warehouse at the final stage. The whole project is expected to be completed by end of March,” Awiti said.

He enumerated projects his administration has done in the 10 departments.

These include construction of a 10-bed intensive care unit (ICU) for Covid-19 patients, increasing the number of health facilities from 143 in 2013 to 210 and employing 1,319 early childhood teachers.