Archives: County Ministries

Mrs. Rachel Jahula Okumu, OGW, EGJ:  Minister for Agriculture, Irrigation, Cooperative, Livestock, Veterinary Services and Fisheries. 
Agriculture is a major driver of economic growth here that is why we have invested heavily in it.

Sugarcane covers the largest area under crop in the county. Unfortunately, most small-scale farmers don’t benefit from it because of lack of economies of scale. Cane inputs are advanced at high costs to farmers cutting into their profits.

As a solution to the perennial problems, we will undertake to offer these farmers options like horticulture and dairy farming by facilitating affordable credit to them through cooperatives and capacity building.

Sh. 100 million has been budgeted in this year’s budget for the purchase of affordable good quality heifers. We will establish a multiplication and demonstration center at Bukura ATC to come up with heifers at affordable and subsidized prices.

Through this government’s initiative, we are also planning to start a programme where we give the poorest of the poor families a  German Alpine dairy goat since they may not be able to take care of the exotic dairy cattle. The animal has the ability to graze itself yet has the potential to produce 4 liters of milk a day.

We aim to improve nutrition and incomes in households through this project. This will be done hand in hand with a chicken project where we provide the poor families with Kenbrow breeds, which are high yielders and can be bred on free-range basis.

A fingerlings centre will be set up at the same venue to improve the fisheries sector. Through it, farmers will have access to fingerlings, get support to renovate neglected ponds and train them on how to take care of fish. Ornamental fish farming is largely unexploited in the county yet they fetch high value in the market despite the cost of inputs being the same.

Tea can do very well in Shinyalu area but the acreage under the crop is not big enough to warrant a factory. A tea seedling multiplication centre will be established to encourage more farmers to grow the crop. Eventually when we are able to produce 16 million kilograms of tea per month, we will have sufficient capacity to put up a factory.

The County is a net importer of food crops and a turnaround is needed to make it food secure. In terms of grain development, areas like Lugari and Likuyani, which are suitable for growing maize, will be tapped to feed the county. Farmers are also encouraged to diversify their food crops to include cassava, sweet potatoes, soya beans and horticulture.

Lack of access to credit and capital has also led to a situation of lands being underexploited and being left fallow. Sh. 100 million has been set-aside in this fiscal year to develop cooperatives and reach many residents through the group approach.

Cane development will not be left untapped either since the crop is an integral part of this county’s resource. We will endeavor to provide farmers with subsidized inputs to give them more earnings from their venture. The issue of cane pricing will have to be reviewed such that farmers too can access the benefits of their investment.

At the end of the day, we do not just want to put more money in the farmers’ pockets but we should also be able to export food to other counties as well and improve the nutrition standards of our people.

Mr. Alfred Ouya Matianyi: County Minister for Trade, Industrialization and Tourism.

As the Minister in charge of tourism, I want to revitalize the industry through a set of strategies already in place. There are many attractions in the county, chief among them being Kakamega Forest, the Crying Stone of Illesi, Bullfighting (Malinya) and the Nabongo Mumia shrines.

I will embark on aggressive marketing and work in partnership with neighboring counties so that we can package the Western Tourism Circuit as one and to leverage on the unique tourist attractions that are inherent in each of the counties.

There’s need to add value to our tourist attractions to give visitors the best experience. To this end, we are exploring possibilities of introducing new animal species never seen before in these parts of the world. Gorillas will be obtained from Uganda to complement the already rich fauna in our indigenous forest. Aggressive marketing will be undertaken to inform people and have them come to view the hundreds of monkey, snakes and bird species that are found in the only tropical rain forest in Kenya.

We are currently exploring possibilities of introducing a cable car to run all the way from Shinyalu where the Kenya Forest Service is located to Kambi Mwanzo to give visitors an aerial view of Kakamega forest. It has the potential of boosting visits from both local and foreign tourists. It has worked well in other parts of the world and we are confident it can work wonders in Kakamega too.

Discussions are ongoing between the County Government of Kakamega and the Lake Basin Development Authority with a view of partnering in putting up an ecotourism center near the forest. Some 4.2 Ha of land where the facility will be located has already been identified.

Investors in the hospitality sector have also shown great interest in the county and we shall be working with them to establish hotels and other amenities across the attraction sites. To fully exploit the existing tourist attractions for the benefit of the county government and the various communities where some of the sites are found, the County Government through my Ministry has initiated talks with various stakeholders.

This brings me to the department of trade. Kakamega County has a conducive business environment that we want to bolster further. The driver for trade in the county will be the agricultural sector.

We intend to set up modern markets in every sub-county to make sure that agricultural products reach the markets and trading within the markets is not inconvenienced by natural factors such as rains and extreme sunshine. They will be replete with toilets, lighting, lockable stalls and 24 hours security. A substantial amount of money has been set aside in this year’s budget for the mentioned purpose.

In order to support the medium and small scale traders, low interest loans will be made available for business people within the county. Small-scale traders will be provided with capacity building programs to enable them utilize these funds effectively.

Our people are hard working, producing many products, both in terms of raw materials and finished items. We shall dialogue with the major business entities in the county with a view of making them give local producers preference as long as the goods meet the set standards.

Industrialization is what will drive the economy and create more jobs for our youth. Emphasis shall be put on cottage industries. This will be done through training our people and helping them access credit from lending institutions. In addition, the growth of the agricultural sector especially in the area of livestock and fish farming should be able to activate the emergence of agro-based industries for feeds supply and also value addition of the agricultural products.

Bigger plans are in the works to develop the manufacturing industry. There are plans to set up a maize milling plant through public private partnership in the high maize producing parts of the county.

Investors will benefit immensely from the incentives we have prepared for them including infrastructural and legislative mechanisms which will make doing business easy. There is plenty of both skilled and semi-skilled labor in Kakamega County as a result of the various technical colleges such as Sigalagala Technical Institute, now Sigalagala Polytechnic, Bukura Agricultural Institute and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology. The County also boosts of a number of village Polytechnics, now County Polytechnics that will continue to provide the much needed skills needed for the cottage Industries. This county government will develop the best transport and communications network, not forgetting the peace that exists in Kakamega County, the people of “Mulembe”.

The sugar industry will be supported to make sure that both millers and the farmer are well accommodated in the symbiotic relationship.

Mr. Kassim Were Ali: County Minister of Social Services, Youths, Sports and Culture.

Mr. John Imbogo : Chief Officer

Dr. George Akolo Lutomia Minister for Education, Science and Technology

The functions that have been devolved in the ministry include Early Childhood Development Education and Youth Polytechnics.

The plan for ECD is to hire teachers with competency meaning the minimum qualification they should posses is a certificate in this field. This will be rolled out between September and January.

There are more than 2, 000 primary schools and other registered public ECD centers in the county. About 3000 teachers are trained to handle ECD level classes. We will ensure that we develop capacity by encouraging public institutions to train more teachers at certificate and diploma levels.

Modern county polytechnics will be put up to increase enrollment in these institutions as part of plans to develop a skilled workforce. There’s very low enrolment in these polytechnics at this time and most of them are day schools. Sh. 150 million has been set aside in the budget to develop these county polytechnics. In a bid to improve on skills and self employment, we intend to have at least one polytechnic in each ward

We shall put up boarding facilities to increase enrolment. We also intend to develop curriculum that will include short courses.  A lot of publicity in these institutions will be undertaken to change the attitude most people have about polytechnics.

Some don’t have signage and are in dire need of a facelift. This will involve appropriate branding and equipping them with modern buses for field trips. New workshops will be built for practical lessons. To improve the curriculum, the youth polytechnics will partner with the national polytechnics to develop relevant market- driven skills.

These polytechnics will enable us to absorb would be Class 8 and Form 4 leavers. Many of our youth have rushed to join the bodaboda business in the hope of making money after school and end up dropping out entirely. This should be changed to bring these young people back to school and reduce the high levels of unemployment.

People above the age of 35, who might not be considered as youth are also encouraged to join these institutions. They will be offering refresher courses to keep those who have already gone through the system relevant in their respective professions.

Mr. Phanuel Kulati Wangia: CECM Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources

The ministry is concerned with preservation of biodiversity and improving access to water and electricity by residents of Kakamega County. Part of the work that we are doing entails striving to increase the forest cover to at least 10 percent of arable land, preventing  illegal logging, maintaining cleanliness in the urban centers and ensuring sustainability through sanitation services.

To protect our forests, more volunteer scouts are needed and an incentive to make them available 24/ 7. Working closely with Community forest associations and the Kenya forest service to prevent poaching.

Tree seedlings will also be given to individuals to plant the same in their own farms. Sh. 50 million has been allocated in this year’s budget for Afforestation.

Increasing the people’s access to piped water is also top among my priority as the person in charge of this docket. Development partners like World Vision have come to work with us by digging wells and purchasing storage tanks for distribution of clean water in homes.

The Carbon Credits trade is a booming enterprise in the international market and we, as a county, will exploit it.

Kakamega County is faced with major challenges and among them is garbage disposal. The county will invest in an incinerator and establish dumpsites at suitable locations. Currently, there is only one incinerator at Kakamega Provincial General Hospital but it is no longer in service.

Dumpsites like the one at Roster man pose a threat to the health of residents since it is located next to a river. The risk of contaminating the water is real including the underground water.

Residents can earn a living from the garbage by processing it into fuel by Bricketing. Plastics and polythene bags can also be recycled.

There are endangered species of flora and fauna in Kakamega County. Case in point is the Kaimosi Agama Lizard, which is almost becoming extinct. The apes in Malava Forest too are endangered and something must be done to protect them.

Ms. Rodah Awinja Masaviru

Executive Committee Member

The Ministry Public Service and Administration, Office of the Governor is responsible for the effective and efficient management and development of the Human Resources in the County. These entails: the development of human resource management policies and procedures; designing and development of organizational structures; determination of optimal staffing levels and ensuring effective utilization of staff.

The Ministry is also charged with the responsibility of developing training and capacity building programmes to enhance the capacity and competency of the staff to effectively perform their respective duties in the County.

The Ministry is also responsible for ensuring that performance management systems are in place through the introduction of results based management systems that will result in the signing of    performance targets and mainstreaming appraisal systems for the staff in the County.

As part of performance improvement initiatives the current processes are being reviewed to re-engineer and remove all the non- value adding processes to ensure effective and efficient delivery of services to people of the County.

To turn around the economy of the County, it is critical that research and service delivery innovations are part and parcel of the management systems. The Ministry is therefore, putting in place all the necessary mechanisms to encourage research and innovation in the County.

The Ministry is coordinating and providing administrative services at the headquarters, county zones, sub-counties, words and up to the village level. These Administrative Units are put in place to ensure that service reaches all the people in the County.

Through the Administrative Units, the Ministry is putting in place mechanisms and systems to effectively disseminate National and County Government information to the public and also strategies for public participation in Government initiatives geared towards improvement of their livelihood. The ministry will also put in place disaster management units in the headquarters and county zones.

Common service agency management units such Human Resource, Supplies Chain Management, Accounts/Audit Units and their respective management committees are being operationalized to ensure these services are delivered effectively and efficiently to the internal and external customers. Modernizing and transforming the Records Management function in the County Government of Kakamega is on the priority agenda of the Ministry.  These include setting up a good manual systems and computerizing the records for easy access and retrieval. Necessary mechanisms are also being put in place to mainstream cross cutting programmes such as HIV/AIDs, gender and disability among others in the County programmes accordingly.

We in this Ministry are therefore, prepared to put all our efforts in ensuring that appropriate systems, procedures, structures, skilled and competent staff are in place to deliver the mandate of the County Government Kakamega to the people.