Kisii Governor James Ongwae during the interview at his office. Photo/JACOB OWITI
Kisii governor James Ongwae is an
extremely busy man, but he remains calm and collected. His office was
full of delegations on Wednesday morning for this interview.
He was so busy that our interview was crammed between a meeting with national government officers and his Cabinet.
But
if his calm demeanour belies the energy he expends in doing his work,
it also doesn’t reveal the challenges that come with his job title, not
least being insecurity, in the form of the proscribed sect, Sungusungu,
recently accused of beating up and raping protesting Kisii University
students.
The former Permanent Secretary runs a county
with some of the most enterprising Kenyans alive today which, even to
him, is something that of a motivation. This comes with high
expectations, demands and challenges which he knows he must live up to.
He told us why he remains optimistic about transforming Kisii County into a middle-income economy.
Q: You have many delegations seeking your audience. How do you manage to see all of them?
The
going has been tough, but I manage. We are the first governors and have
the responsibility of building institutions. I think it will be easier
for our successors in future. I arrive in the office at 8 am and leave
well past 10 pm.
Most of our first months in office went into the setting up of structures. We have done all that is supposed to be done.
We
have taken over the government functions that are mandated to us under
the Constitution and harmonised our working relationship with officers
from the national government.
The Kisii County
government is now fully operational and is boldly moving forward and
breaking new grounds in ensuring improved service delivery to our
people
.
.
Q: What is your response to concerns
that recruitment here is heavily tilted in favour of people from one
constituency and your relatives?
That is not
correct. The recruitment is done by the Public Service Board. It is
professional, driven by merit, equity, fairness and diversity. The board
is always keen to ensure that recruitment is above board.
Q: So what is the justification of appointing your father as political advisor?
Mzee
Ongwae is 93 years old. His vision is impaired. Nobody can employ such a
person; those claims are unfortunate. Most of what you read in social
media is untrue.
Q: How have you involved the Kisii diaspora in county development?
There
are about 700,000 Kisii residents who live outside the county, locally
and abroad. Because of the extended family system, many have built homes
in various counties across Kenya. Their participation in support of the
economy is reflected through remittances.
Kisii Town
alone has more than 25 banks, and we control more than 60 per cent of
the money market in the whole of the southwestern Kenya. The county
government has created desks in key cities in the US to engage those
abroad.
We have advertised the post of diaspora
coordinator. There is a suggestion that we could use funds from the
Kisii diaspora to start a bank to finance development projects.
Q: And how secure is Kisii for investment?
We
are a very vibrant economy. The levels of crime have completely
reduced. Land is becoming very expensive because of the number of
investors. Visitors are looking for places to stay.
We
are encouraging investors to build hotels and are also working with
Utalii Hotel to respond to the increasing demand for hospitality
services.
Q: And how do plan to decongest Kisii town?
The
problem is hawkers and boda boda operators. A taskforce I set up has
identified routes for boda boda use and determined the stations where
shades will be constructed for their use.
This will
ease traffic flow within the CBD. My government has earmarked 258
parking slots in Kisii town and work is ongoing. We have also identified
and designated places for hawkers.
We have signed a contract with an investor to install solar street lights within the Central Business District.
Q: What about waste management?
We
finalised discussions for purchase of a waste disposal site last month.
We also launched an Integrated Cleaning Programme for Kisii Town which
divides it into six zones for ease of management.
Youths
have been contracted to clean the town and the results are impressive.
We are in the process of purchasing two garbage compactors, 20 solid
waste skips, two tractors and four lorries for the same.
My government also plans to cover all open drains and manholes in Kisii Town before June.
Q: What do you see as the opportunities as the key opportunities for growth?
I
see opportunities in agri-processing, manufacturing, real estate, food
processing and the cooperative movement. Turkish and Australian
investors have already established a Sh300 million avocado processing
plant at the Kenya Industrial Estates in Kisii Town, and production is
set to begin next month. Its products will meet EU market
specifications.
We also have held talks with an
investor who will put up a factory in South Mogirango to serve the
abundance of stone quarries there. We are also working with investors
put up tourism and conferencing facilities.
We produce
bananas in abundance, and are in talks with the Iranian Embassy, which
has expressed interest in buying our bananas and they are willing to
partner with us in establishing a banana-packaging plant.
We want to build a sugar factory in South Mogirango but haven’t acquired land yet.
Q: Is it true that agriculture has failed to lift many people in the county out of poverty?
That
is the paradox of development. Even in developed countries such as the
US, there are very rich people and very poor people. We are a proud
people but are facing the challenge of diminishing lands.
We
must change our land management practices. For instance, farmers should
resort to zero grazing. To create jobs, our youths must acquire
technical competencies.
Q: Does it worry you that the prevalence rate for Aids has increased?
It
does. It boils down to change of habits. We now have 22 universities
represented in Kisii town, with a student population of about 70,000
This comes with moonlighting and its attendant problems.
Q: The road network here is dilapidated...
We
are working on that; you can walk around and see the work we are doing.
In March, we started on building over 255 km of compacted murram roads
within all the 45 wards. We gave engaged both the youth and women in
construction of the roads.
I have warned contractors
that anybody doing a shoddy job will not be tolerated. We have a total
of 1,885km of road network, out of which only 123.8km are tarmacked.
In
the urban centres, we have a total of 79kms of roads out of which only
17 kms are tarmacked. We have set aside Sh300 million to pave roads.
Ultimately, we want to tarmac all the roads.
We have
procured two graders, two drum rollers, two excavators, a wheel loader
and a low loader. Were there are problems falls under the Kenya Urban
roads Authority, and we have been forced to take up work outside our
mandate. People have to understand that.
Q: You recently bought ambulances yet there claims hospitals have no drugs. How is that supposed to help?
We
have distributed drugs worth Sh54 million to health facilities in all
sub counties. We have placed an order for drugs worth another Sh54
million.
We have put up a renal unit at the Kisii
Level Five Hospital. The orthopaedic ward has been renovated and
equipped. Soon, the hospital will be transformed into a referral and
teaching hospital. We are also building theatres in all our sub-county
hospitals
Q: What five things do you wish to accomplish by the end of your term?
I
would want to fix health, improve agriculture and access to water,
empower youth and women, and make rural electrification a success. I
want to create a vibrant Kisii.
Q: About water, you do not seem to have made any progress so far...
We
have. We are building a total of number of five springs per ward at a
cost of Sh1 million, translating to 225 springs in all 45 wards this
year. This will give about 110,000 people access to safe drinking
water.
We plan to dig 45 bore holes across the county.
I must say that devolution is not only meant to transfer resources
from the national government to the counties and end there.
Devolution
will only be complete once we transfer resources all the way to the
ward level, down to where everyone can access them.
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