Four days since the country marked the 58th Madaraka Day celebration in the Lakeside City of Kisumu, Kisumu County, a section of residents have alleged that President Uhuru Kenyatta failed to address their needs, despite a three day visit to the region.
Fishermen, farmers and small scale traders have claimed that the Head of State focused on the launch of major projects, sidelining the basic needs of the county dwellers.
They alleged that the president failed to address the rice growing sector in the region, which has continued to face stiff competition from the importation of cheap rice, crippling markets for farmers in the region.
They further claimed that President Kenyatta did not address the revival of cotton farming and the Kisumu Cotton Mills (Kicomi) which according to the Saturday Nation on June 5, used to employ at least 3,000 people, remains a shadow of its former self.
President Kenyatta, according to an itinerary shared by State House ahead of the Kisumu visit, was supposed to launch and commission over 15 projects in the region which, however, did not happen. The Head of State launched a few, assuring locals that he would return to launch the projects later this year.
An official from the Kenya Sugarcane Growers Association (KSGA) has since revealed that Nzoia, Sony, Muhoroni and Chemilil Sugar Companies are wallowing in debt, owing famers in the excess of Ksh1 billion.
KSGA Secretary-General Richard Ogendo stated that they expected that during his visit, President Kenyatta would grant the factories approval to acquire new machines. Sugarcane farmers also expected the Head of State would direct the Kenya Sugar Board to issue grants to some factories.
"We expected the president and Mr. Odinga to address this issue. The farmers cannot pay, their children's school fees. We have nothing to celebrate on this Madaraka Day or on the president's visit," Ogendo was quoted as saying.
The KSGA sec-gen stated that the sugar millers in the region require capital for refurbishments.
Fishermen from Kisumu also decried the shortage of processing plants and modern fishing equipment to ply their trade.
They further claimed that they face multiple cases of harassments from Ugandan and Tanzanian officials, an issue they wanted the President to address.
They had expected the Head of State to touch on how the fishermen can bridge the gap between demand and production. The annual fish demand in the country is 600,000 tonnes against a production capacity of 150,000 tonnes.
Former Nairobi Senatorial aspirant and member of the Luo-Nyanza Economic caucus, Eliud Owalo, alleged that President Kenyatta's visit was more of political than economic.
"President Kenyatta should have used the visit to espouse the realistic and feasible policy framework that facilitates a tangible development agenda for the region," Owalo stated.
He claimed that the challenges experienced in the Luo-Nyanza region are well known to the government and the solutions are contained in the existing policy blue prints, however, their is a shortage of political goodwill and financial resources to resolve them.
"I expected the president to outline a clear matrix for desirable development and revitalisation programmes in the sugarcane, fishing, cotton, tourism and other industries," Owalo remarked.
"They should be backed up with adequate financing and tied to specific timeframes and performance indicators. Anything short of this is nothing but a political gimmick," he added.
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