By David Jomo
With an area of over three thousand square kilometres and a population of two million residents,
Kakamega County enjoys a vast variety of resources.
Thanks to county leadership in collaboration with the National Government and other development
partners, infrastructure development has been witnessed at this 'heart' of Luhyia. An adventurous
network of accessible roads, bridges, and an airstrip boosts the county's ego.
Educational institutions, including Early Childhood Development Education through institutions of higher
learning such as Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST), have played a role in
shaping the intellectual upbringing of many youths.
It is to be noted that such advancement of both tangible and intangible infrastructure has led to the
attraction of investors in different fields. Sugarcane factories have enjoyed the ride, and prestigious
private schools have mushroomed across the county.
Statistics show the county has over fifty trading centres, over ten thousand retailers, about twenty
supermarkets and two hundred wholesale traders, and over one thousand registered hotels.
Such figures show the economic, social, and political prowess Kakamega County holds. Being a rural
county and having cinematic experiences in terms of tourist attractions, this prestigious county holds
unique features for hosting conferences and important meetings.
I still wonder why, with such an awe-inspiring background, the leadership of the County Government
decided to hold an important meeting in a neighbouring county. On the tenth of June this year,
Governor FCPA Fernandes Baraza OGW presided over a consultative meeting between the County
Assembly and the Executive over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) budget estimates
for the 2024/2025 financial year.
However great the meeting was, I fault the hosting of the meeting fifty kilometres away from the home
county as the logistics involved in facilitating the meeting would have been better used to repair
classrooms in Bunuku Primary School in Malava Sub-County.
It is my humble submission that, moving forward, such meetings should be in the home county. There is
no need to go to places of higher concentration: good things can still be executed here in Kakamega.
