Governor Anyang Nyong’o’s beachfront house coming soon

KISUMU, KENYA: In less than five months, Kisumu County Governor Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o will be relaxing in the cool lake breeze from his official residence off the shore of Lake Victoria.

County officials have confirmed that the move is aimed at marketing the lake as a tourism and investment destination.

A few disgruntled leaders have questioned the move, arguing that the governor who already has two private homes in the county (one in the city and another in his rural home in Ratta, Seme), does not need a new home.

They even proposed renovation of houses inherited from the defunct local authorities to save the county from incurring more expenses.

But according to Executive Member for Finance Nerry Achar, having the governor by the lake shore was good for the economy of the county.

“When the governor hosts delegations, he has been trying to market the lake, but it does not make sense if he markets what he himself doesn’t seem to believe in (sic). Furthermore, it would be more expensive to renovate a house than acquire a new one,” said Achar.

He added: “Having his house by the lake provides would be ideal as he can convince others that the lake is a tourism and investment destination.”

He said the governor’s guests will be in a position to have a full view of the lake, and will have more confidence to invest in the area.

The county government has been working on revamping the city’s infrastructure to ‘have the city face the lake.’

This would ensure that the lake shore is properly utilised, as opposed to the current situation where the city faces away from the lake, and anybody passing through Kisumu to the Western part of the country may fail to have a view of Lake Victoria. According to Achar, the national government has been paying house allowance to the governor, his deputy and Assembly Speaker, but this will be terminated in October.

According to Achar, the cost of the house is yet to be revealed but proposals have been sent out to people with decent houses to sell to the county.