The Akamba community in Kilifi County is set to form a cooperative movement aimed at economically empowering its members.
This initiative is spearheaded by the Wasya wa Mbaitu Society, an umbrella group for all Akamba community members in the coastal county, which plans to have the movement registered by February 2025.
During the society’s end-of-year party held at Barani Secondary School in Malindi town, the society’s patron, James Mutuiwa, stressed the need for a cooperative movement that would source funds and lend them to members through existing groups.
“Before we go to the 2027 General Election, we need to have a cooperative movement so that we will be able to source funds and lend to our people to boost their businesses or start new ones, and there are people already willing to fund us,” he said.
Reflecting on the society’s origins, he noted that before its establishment, the only existing chamas (self-help groups) focused on raising funds for burials.
“The Kamba people were busy running away from death. We forgot that one may run away from death yet live 100 years and there is nothing else you are doing except contributing towards burials. It is like telling God we are ready to die,” he remarked.
Determined to change this mindset, Wasya wa Mbaitu was founded to provide meaningful support to the community, he said, adding that although members would continue contributing toward funerals, they would also involve themselves in beneficial economic activities.
Mutuiwa said there were plans to collaborate with trustees, professionals, and the county government to secure 500 acres of land in Kilifi County where the community can invest in farming.
“We are talking with our trustees and professionals, who will in turn engage the county government with a view to securing 500 acres of land so that we can invest in farming,” he told the gathering that included Kitui Senator Enock Wambua and his Kilifi counterpart Stewart Madzayo.
Wasya wa Mbaitu Chairman Joseph Mutinda echoed the importance of unity within the community, noting that only this, would make them relevant economically and politically.
Mutinda urged the Akamba community in the area to resist any attempts at dividing them and emphasized that unity was the key to political success.
Wasya wa Mbaitu Coordinator Peter Nzuki urged members of the Akamba community to register with the Social Health Authority (SHA) for them to get medical services offered by the government.
Senators Wambua and Madzayo called for the speedy reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to enable the new commissioners to conduct pending by-elections and start preparing for the 2027 General Election.
By Emmanuel Masha
