Deputy President Prof. Kithure Kindiki has reiterated the government’s commitment to economically transforming the Coast region through investments in the Blue Economy, electricity, affordable housing and youth employment.
Prof. Kindiki said that under the current regime, the region had already benefitted from various multi-billion-shilling development programmes, adding that the government had lined up more projects in its broader agenda to empower grassroots communities.
Speaking at the Maji Langobaya Comprehensive School in Malindi Sub County, Kilifi County, during a women empowerment funds drive, the DP said the government had disbursed close to Sh3.2 billion in grants to Beach Management Units across all five counties bordering the Indian Ocean over the past two years.
The DP noted that President Dr. William Ruto had directed the Cabinet Secretary for Mining and the Blue Economy, Hassan Ali Joho, to fast-track the procurement of modern deep-sea fishing vessels that will allow local fishermen to access offshore waters for up to 10 days, thus boosting fish catches.
“In Kilifi alone, we have completed the first fish processing and storage centre, which was inspected by the President earlier this year,” Kindiki said, adding that the efforts would reduce post-harvest losses and raise fishermen’s earnings.
He said the government had allocated Sh1.8 billion for rural electrification under the Last Mile Connectivity Programme to connect 20,000 homes in Kilifi County, with Malindi Constituency benefitting from Sh132 million, which will see 2,200 households connected.
To empower the youth economically, Prof. Kindiki said the government would from next week launch the Climate Works Programme across all counties to employ jobless youth in environmental clean-up projects.
He said the National Youth Opportunities in Towards Advancement (NYOTA) programme will from next month begin disbursing Sh50,000 business grants to 70 enterprises in every ward countrywide, while foreign labour placements have reached 400,000 Kenyan youths in the past two years.
Kindiki said in education and health, 76,000 teachers and 107,000 community health promoters have been employed, with 24,000 more teachers set to be employed by December this year.
The Deputy President said there were plans to construct modern markets in Malindi, Watamu, and Mtwapa towns, which will feature cold storage facilities, breastfeeding stations and youth innovation hubs with computer labs and free internet access to support digital entrepreneurship.
He said the government had started constructing affordable houses in various parts of Kilifi County, with Malindi benefitting from the initial 576 units worth Sh853 million to be constructed on a 10-acre land at the Malindi High School.
Kindiki said the National Housing Programme had already created 250,000 jobs, saying the job opportunities in the programme would hit the one million mark in a few years to come.
He said he would, in the next two weeks, return to Kilifi to issue 6,000 land title deeds alongside Governor Gideon Mung’aro, during which he is expected to officially open the new Malindi Land Registry.
The DP defended the economic empowerment drives across the country from allegations that they are politically motivated and dismissed former DP Rigathi Gachagua and several other leaders as tribalists with no agenda for Kenyans.
Other speakers included President Ruto’s aide Farouk Kibet, Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya, Governors Gideon Mung’aro (Kilifi), his Mombasa counterpart Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir and 31 legislators led by National Assembly Leader of Majority Kimani Ichung’wa.
They bashed Gachagua, former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and former Cabinet Secretaries Eugene Wamalwa and Fred Matiang’i, accusing them of doing nothing for Kenyans while they served in government.
Mung’aro underscored the importance of the Langobaya Solar Plant, which was feeding electricity to the national grid and called for the installation of street lights in the area.
He said President Ruto had promised to upgrade the Malindi-Sala Gate Road to highway class status to enable heavy commercial vehicles to use it.
By Shani Rhai and Brian Muuo
