Nandi Governor Stephen Sang is racing against time to complete key flagship projects, with the potential to change the region’s economic fortunes.
Being initiatives that formed the key basis of his campaign strategy in the last general election, the governor is keen to ensure they are done and operationalised as scheduled.
The projects include the multimillion-dollar Mother and Baby hospital in Kapsabet town, the Kabiyet milk processing plant, the Nandi County Textile Unit (Natex), the avocado aggregation packhouse, and the coffee milling plant, among others.
Speaking during an inspection tour, Sang said having supported the Nandi Avocado Farmers’ Cooperative Society with capacity building and certified seed distribution, he was pleased to see the significant milestones they have achieved in the sector.
“For a long time, our small-scale avocado farmers have struggled to access markets individually. However, it’s a new dawn for avocado farmers in our county after the Nandi Avocado Farmers’ Cooperative Society (NAFCS) got a license to start direct exports. Our first consignment of avocado exports goes to Belgium and the Netherlands,” he stated.
He said this week, the society airlifted 700 kilogrammes of avocado samples to these two European markets. This milestone follows NAFCS’s licensing by the Horticultural Crops Directorate (HCD) on July 10, 2024.
The facility, which is situated in Lessos, when complete and fully operational, will have the capacity to aggregate and store 22 tonnes of avocados per day, thus reducing post-harvest losses.
Natex, situated in Chesumei Sub County, is set to commence operations once Kenya Power installs a transformer.
“Apart from production, Natex will also provide direct job opportunities to locals. It will serve as a hub for enterprise development, whereby students who have completed their studies in textiles will have the opportunity to develop and market their own brands, empowering them to start and grow their businesses,” said Sang.
He said a second phase of these initiatives, involves setting up of other cottage industries in leather and shoe making, wood processing, plastic formworks for household items, among many other products.
This initiative aims to enhance entrepreneurship, which will accelerate industrialisation within the county and beyond, hence stimulating economic growth, in line with the government’s Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
The second-term governor assured locals that the construction of the New Mother and Baby Hospital Complex in Kapsabet Ward, Emgwen Sub County, has entered its final finishing phase.
“We have started the procurement process to equip the hospital with modern equipment,” he said.
The move comes after locals staged a protest demanding that all stalled projects should be completed on time to avoid wastage of taxpayer’s money.
By Linet Wafula
