BY GEORGE OWITI - KCA
The Lake Victoria Region of Kenya is set to undergo a major
socio-economic transformation based on an Economic Blue Print which has been
prepared by a team of consultants from Deloite & Touch with support from
Ford Foundation.
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Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma (center) addresses the press. With him are (l-r) Rosemary Okello-Orlale of Ford Foundation, Sammy Onyango,CEO Deloitte), Dr. Kennedy Hongo, a senior officer, Kisumu County Goverment, and E.A Lubembe of Deloitte.
The Blue Print, which focuses on seven major economic pillars, including agriculture, ICT, infrastructure, tourism and hospitality, financial services, education and health services, is set to transform the Lake Victoria Region, which has a block of thirteen counties into a major power house not only in Kenya but the Eastern Africa Region.
Highlights of the Economic Blue Print were unveiled today by
Sammy Onyango; the CEO of Deloitte at a media briefing in Kisumu presided over
by the Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma. Also present was Ford Foundation Program officer
in charge of Public Service Media Rosemary Okello-Orlale and Mr. E.A Lubembe, Director,
Public Affairs at Deloitte.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to formally launch the Blue
print on Tuesday April 21, 2015 at the opening session of the four- day Devolution
Conference in Kisumu. This year’s conference is the second one since the
Devolved system of Governance was launched after the promulgation of the
Constitution of Kenya 2010.
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| Lake Victoria from Tilapia Beach: The lake's potential is enormous. |
Speaking during the press briefing Kisumu Governor, Jack
Ranguma said all preparations were complete to ensure the conference was a
success. He said the forum which had been organized by Council of Governors and
the National Government through the Ministry of Devolution will be attended by
more than 6,000 participants from across the country and international
agencies.
He said the conference was meant to discuss progress of
devolution since its inception, review the challenges and make recommendations
to ensure devolution was implemented successfully.
The governor said the Lake Basin Economic Blue Print which
was initially an initiative of Kisumu County Government had attracted the
interest of a total of thirteen counties from the region drawn from Nyanza,
Western and the Rift Valley.
He thanked Ford Foundation for the support and said the
initiative would transform the region into a major economic hub which will not
only transform the lives of the people in the region but would serve the entire
Eastern Africa region.
He said Kisumu County and the city was a major hub for the
East African Region and was building a bigger capacity to service the large
population in the Lake Victoria region through improved facilities and
infrastructure.
Ranguma said was important for counties from the Western Kenya
Region to develop capacity in several other areas arguing that there were
numerous opportunities to be exploited by a number of counties from the region
in both tourism and hospitality industries.
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| Workers final preparations to a giant tent for the conference |
“We need to exploit numerous opportunities available in
hospitality and tourism industries, the lake region community will attract most
foreign investments in the country,” Ranguma said.
According to the governor, counties must have proper
economic agenda based on strengths of each county to make devolution a reality
and change the livelihoods of Kenyans.
Ranguma called on the Kisumu residents to be tolerant and
peaceful during the three days conference so as not to scare away investors
visiting the region thereby giving the county bad image, he said security had
been beefed up.
The governor said the counties involved in the initiative
had committed to making it succeed and would commit adequate resources to drive
the implementation of all the key pillars.
Ms. Okello-Orlale said Ford Foundation remained committed to
supporting development programs in the region and the country to help transform
lives.
Onyango of Deloitte said the Blue Print was the result of
extensive consultation and research in the Lake region which involved sampling
views from different stakeholders. He said if implemented faithfully, the plan
could radically transform the region and make it a major economic hub which
could see it serving many other countries globally and create employment
opportunities.
