Day: April 1, 2023

Governors from Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot and Baringo counties have been urged to enhance their unity and advocate economic investment and also promote initiatives to foster peace.

In a joint communiqué 57 professionals from the four devolved units indicated that towards finding a lasting solution to banditry and cattle rustling menace the counties should come up with a joint strategy of utilizing available resources and allocation of resources to boost industrial development and create employment opportunities.

They noted that the counties face similar challenges that require unity of purpose to find lasting solutions through harnessing their joint economic power, potentials and resources. By doing so they added, the Governors would open doors for residents including the youth some of whom have been involved in acts of lawlessness, to do business and foster international trade.

The communiqué that is a culmination of three day deliberations on finding alternative lasting solutions to armed conflicts in the restive North Rift was read in turns by Messrs Laurence Mutwol, Joseph Riwawale and Joseph Atan and Ms Alice Cherem on behalf of professionals from Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot, Turkana and Baringo Counties respectively.

Also present during the talks that were held at a Nakuru hotel sponsored by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) and the European Union.

Similar talks are lined up for professionals from Samburu, Laikipia and Isiolo counties.

The professionals stated that other than security operations, Governors, Members of Parliament, Members of County Assemblies, Councils of elders and religious leaders should work with the national government in addressing the cultural, political, social and economic challenges that have escalated the conflict.

These efforts they added should be complemented by heavy investment in the education infrastructure in the region.

The incentives, they said, should range from free meals for pupils, availability of learning materials, scholarships for bright students, better remuneration and allowances and security for teachers working in these regions.

‘There is a need for alternative solutions, including infrastructure investment and revamping security, to open up the region for development and investment. Education is one of the best de-radicalization tools that can help reprogramme the cultural connection with banditry. Exposure to modern education will shift the banditry ideology and provide them with alternative knowledge, competence, and skills needed in modern society,’ the communiqué read in part.

It went on ‘Leaders must acknowledge that failure to address the cultural connection with banditry will only provide temporary solutions. The government needs to integrate economic empowerment activities with de-radicalization approaches,’

The professionals indicated that forming an economic bloc would be a fundamental step that could open up the region to investments in tourism and other sectors that boost economic development, the cohesion of the people and peace through economic empowerment and initiation of multi-billion-shillings projects, transforming the local economy.

While noting that it was encouraging to see the government change its tact by investing in drone surveillance technology, they highlighted a need to invest in community-based intelligence and inter-communal peace initiatives.

They observed that constructive community engagements involving warring local communities in the volatile North Rift can play an instrumental role towards curbing banditry.

The group maintained that a holistic and collaborative approach, that is community-centric and devoid of blame game and political finger-pointing, portends viable solutions to resolving the conflict.

‘With local communities taking a prominent role in crafting the solution, policymakers will be in a position of strength to make informed decisions on navigating the rough terrain. It is only the people of Baringo, Turkana, West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet, who can find solutions to their problems,’

The professionals noted it was time the communities developed mitigation measures before involving the government in the processes rather than the government taking the lead role.

They said creating linkages between grassroots communities, the government and non-governmental organizations through collaborations and trust-building will go a long way in fostering peaceful co-existence in the region.

According to them an all-inclusive community-led initiative would encourage cooperation and create incentives for collective action and assist parties to the conflicts to end hostilities as it enables addressing the root causes of the problem.

‘These communities have coexisted for decades and had ways of resolving conflicts. Giving them a free hand to develop and structure their solutions to the problem will provide appropriate insight into the issues at hand,’ read the communiqué.

They called on politicians, religious leaders, civil society and opinion makers not to tire of sensitizing the community on the importance of education adding that banditry was not a sustainable lifestyle.

The professionals regretted that banditry has frustrated some leaders and Kenyans of goodwill, who would like to see a long-lasting resolution that would usher in peace and development.

‘We must appreciate that a comprehensive, inclusive approach led by the community may lead to the recovery, reconstruction and development in these regions that have borne the brunt of resource-based conflicts for a long time,’ they said.

Mr Kona observed that as there is limited or no education, there are few professionals in the areas and that they relied on imported services from other counties.

While indicating that more than 50 professionals including security personnel have been killed in the four counties with Elgeyo Marakwet alone accounting for over 20 of the cases Mr Kona said that those sent to these areas always ask for transfers due to attacks and horrible work environments.

‘Not all professionals are lucky to survive the attacks. There have been reports of murdered professionals over the years. The police are not exempted from these deaths. The bandits indiscriminately kill the people sent to help, which leads to other professionals refusing to be deployed there,’ the Commissioner pointed out.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The County Government of Nakuru has intensified its efforts to tap into sports tourism, through Sh800 million investments in building new sporting facilities and refurbishing existing ones.

The devolved unit has also disclosed plans for collaborations with athletics, golfers and rugby players from the region to promote Nakuru as a tourism destination.

Governor Susan Kihika said renowned sportsmen from Nakuru travel to many countries and have the potential to market the county’s rich ecosystem.

She said that the county had invested Sh124 million in the first phase of the construction of the Keringet sports academy and a training camp in Ndabibit village in Kuresoi South Sub-County.

The ultra-modern high altitude training centre, Ms Kihika pointed out, will help nurture talents from Nakuru and other parts of the South Rift region.

Keringet has produced athletics champions including former world marathon champion Geoffrey Kirui and the reigning Olympics 1,500m champion Faith Chepng’etich.

Others are national cross country champion Amos Kirui, former world marathon champion Geoffrey Kirui, world 800m bronze medalist Ferguson Rotich, 2006 world under-20 3,000m steeplechase champion Caroline Tuigong, Isaiah Kiplangat, Josphat Bett, Mercy Chebwogen, Roseline Chepngetich, Commonwealth Games 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal, Ronald Kirui and Alfred Ng’eno among others.

Speaking when she inspected the ongoing Shs 600 million refurbishment works at the 74 year old Afraha stadium, Ms Kihika said her administration will exploit Kenya’s prowess in Rugby 7s, athletics, golf and other international sports to draw visitors to its national parks, historic and cultural sites.

‘Sports tourism is a low-hanging fruit for Kenya, and it’s inexpensive to promote and develop. Kenya has been offering sports tourism in such events as the Safari Rally, Kenya Open Golf Championships, World Athletics events, road races and at a small scale, athletes coming to train in Kenya particularly in athletics. Tourism has evolved over the years from Safari and the beaches to sports tourism. Sports tourism is becoming an important contributor to local and national social-economic development across the continent,’ noted the Governor.

The World Travel Market puts sports tourism returns at $600 billion (Sh71.4 trillion) annually worldwide. In Kenya, the social pillar of Vision 2030 aims to use sports to improve social, economic, and political development.

While indicating that Kenya is a global giant in athletics dominating long distance running in the last 70 years, Ms Kihika said beyond reducing unemployment rates drastically, there is national pride and patriotism to be cherished plus amazing talent developed in sports.

Sports events are becoming a major driver of economic development worldwide. We estimate that globally, the industry is worth around $620 billion (Sh62 trillion). That figure represents a significant portion of the $4.5 trillion (Sh450 trillion) estimated value of the tourism industry.

This was clearly demonstrated by last year’s WRC Safari Rally event in Naivasha which is estimated to have contributed Sh6 billion within three days. In the global arena, the sports tourism market is seen to be a fast-growing sector of the travel industry estimated at Sh60.7 trillion a year.

Ms Kihika observed that sports tourism was a viable pathway for generating visitor spending and promoting a destination’s local attractions and outlying districts and added that sports tourism was great for the economy as it generates economic impact through direct spending.

She stated that with the agreement of Kenya to hold WRC Safari Rally till 2026, sports tourism is set for a rapid growth.

‘It is worth developing sports tourism as this will significantly contribute to diversification of tourism products post-Covid-19.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the global tourism market is projected to grow between two and three per cent – with the sport tourism sector expected to grow in the region of 14 per cent.

Indeed, many observers regard international sports as being one of the primary reasons for this global growth in tourism.

Ms Kihika explained that the upgrade of Afraha Stadium to International standards delays was caused by the restructuring of some utilities that had passed through the stadium.

Some of them include power lines and water pipes which supply water to the households neighboring the stadium.

She added that the cost of materials such as steel had also changed, causing a restructuring of the contract which caused the works to be halted for a short period.

‘I can assure you that by June this year we shall have completed the first phase of this stadium’ she said.

It should be noted that the first phase entails a modern football pitch, running track, changing rooms, parking space and a restaurant, among other amenities.

The stadium will have a modern swimming pool, a gymnasium, a running turf and an outdoor gaming facility among others, joining the league of big stadiums like Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi.

The sports fraternity has termed the refurbishment a key move towards enhancing sports tourism in the region.

Once completed, World Bank funded project is expected to hold up to 7,000 people.

According to Governor Kihika, the ultra-modern Keringet sports complex cum training camp will help in nurturing talent and encourage young athletes in the region while at the same time tapping revenue through sports tourism.

‘The sports complex will be fully equipped to help athletes in training. It will also accommodate other sports in the county as part of efforts to improve sports in the talent-rich region,’ Governor Kihika stated.

‘We will have international athletes camping at the centre as it will be a state-of-the-art high altitude training facility,’ she added. The sports centre is being built in two phases.

‘Phase one of the ultra-modern facility will include construction of running tracks, field events athletics pitch, frontage fence, gatehouse, generator house, chain link fence for the entire academy and toilets,’ revealed Ms Kihika.

The sports complex, which is being built on an over 20-acre parcel of land, will serve local and international athletes who have been experiencing lack of training facilities.

Previously, athletes from Nakuru have had to travel to Iten and Sirikwa sports academy for training.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Kenya Trade Network Agency (KenTrade) has conducted a public participation forum in Eldoret to collect views from the general public on the implementation of the National Electronic Single Window System (NESWS) Act 2022.

In an interview with KNA during the forum in Eldoret attended by members of the business community drawn from across Uasin Gishu County, the Ag. KenTrade CEO David Ngarama said the agency is looking forward to enhancing facilitation of trade through automating trade processes in the country in response to the president’s call to digitize all government services.

‘KenTrade is a parastatal under the National Treasury with a mandate to facilitate trade. We do this facilitation through implementation of what we call the National Electronic Single Window System (NESWS). It is a system that has brought together about 40 government agencies which are involved in one way or another in facilitating international trade through issuance of various permits and licenses,’ said Mr. Ngarama.

The system puts all the government agencies in one platform such that if an importer or exporter wants to secure a license or a permit with the government agencies, all they need to do is log in to the KenTrade system to make an application.

‘We incorporated those government agencies in our system so at the back end they are able to access one’s application and if it was the request for a certain permit or approval they can approve immediately. The importer or exporter will be able to access that approval from our system regardless of where they are operating from in Kenya or outside countries at any time of the day,’ he noted.

The members of the business community led by the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KNCCI) Uasin Gishu Chairperson Willy Kenei, raised various concerns including enhanced capacity building on the usage of the NESWS, incorporation of crucial services missing in the single window system like the Halal certification for agricultural commodities among others.

The CEO pointed out that the agency is committed to addressing the concerns raised by members of the public by continuing to identify the processes that are missing in the system and ensuring they are included in the Single Window System.

However many participants noted the system is slow and thus the agency need to enhance its capacity in terms of speed and efficiency.

Responding, Mr Ngarama assured that they have addressed the challenge by adopting a performance management system application to collect feedback and rectify any arising technical glitch on time.

‘I can assure the public that we have implemented what we call an application performance management system which we launched recently and this system allows us to identify where the system has a problem at any given time such that we are able to pick that information directly from the application and resolve it instantly,’ he said.

The KenTrade boss indicated that the agency has achieved a great milestone through the implementation of the National Electronic Single Window System which has seen automation increasing from about 14 per cent to 90 per cent since its launch in 2014.

‘Before we went live with the system, most of the processes were done manually, if you needed for example a permit from any government agency like Kenya Veterinary Board, Pharmacy and Poisons Board, KEPHIS and others, you needed to physically visit those institutions. If you needed to make a payment for a permit or license you needed to go to the bank to make payment but since the implementation of the single window, we have seen the level of automation coming from about 14 per cent to about 90 per cent,’ he said.

He further revealed that the agency currently processes about 1.2 to 1.3 million permits per year since the implementation of the NESWS in 2014 as compared to about 30,000 permits processed before.

Additionally, the amount of income the government agencies generate through the system which also has a payment gateway has increased from a paltry Sh200,000 to Sh2.3 billion annually as compliance levels also go up.

The single window system further received a huge boost following the recent integration between the NESWS and the new Integrated Customs Management System which ensures that if an importer has particular consignment that he is bringing into the country he or she does not need to have any physical document to clear.

‘The process is such that, if a government agency needs to clear your consignment it does that online by logging into the single window system. If for example you are bringing sugar and a sugar directorate needs to clear your consignment, they just log in to and clear the consignment on our system,’ explained Ngarama.

The single window system works in such a way that it sends the importer’s message to the customs system and the customs receives the message and is able to release the consignment. This saves on time and cost and at the same time removing the element of human intervention.

‘What we are looking forward to is enhanced trade in this country, more businesses, more exports and imports even for government agencies in terms of raising their revenue through faster exports and imports processes due to shorter clearing time at the port and hence reduced cost of doing business as traders do not have to spend a lot of time at the airport or at the port,’ he noted.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Governors from the Central Region Economic bloc (CEREB) have called upon the national government to include several crops key to their region into the priority value chain of the country due to their importance to the economy of the region.

The governors from 10 counties that make up the bloc said they were going to engage the national government to include eight crops which comprise of; coffee, potatoes, pyrethrum, avocado, macadamia, wheat, maize, and bananas to the value chain priority list in terms of financing in order to spur economic growth of the region.

The governors led by their chair Mr. Mutahi Kahiga said leaving these crops from the priority list of the value chain will make the bloc to lag behind in development, yet it produces 28 per cent of the country`s Gross Economic Product(GDP).

‘We plan to engage the national government to ensure the crops which are the mainstay of the region`s economy are included in the priority list of the value chain in terms of financing in order to help the region grow economically,’ Kahiga who is also the Nyeri County Governor said.

The governors were speaking to the media at the end of their two-day meeting in Naivasha on Friday. The meeting was also attended by the County Executive Committee Members (CECs) from counties that make up CEREB.

The counties include; Nakuru, Nyandarua, Kiambu, Murang`a, Laikipia, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Embu, Tharaka- Nithi and Meru.

Kahiga revealed that their bloc had signed a legal framework with development partners to help develop the region and they intend to hasten to complete the 2013 CEREB economic bill in all their county assemblies which is an improvement from the one of 2019 which is yet to be approved.

Tharaka – Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki said the bloc seeks to bring devolution from Council of Governors (COG) to the region to spur development. He also appealed to the office of the Controller of Budget (COB) and that of the Auditor General (AG) to allow the counties to set aside some funds from their budgets to fund the activities of the regional bloc in order to bring economic growth to the region instead of depending on donors.

Source: Kenya News Agency