The Chief Administrative Secretary for Treasury Erick Simiyu has expressed the government’s commitment to ensuring that Alupe University College is well equipped and has proper infrastructural development.
Speaking during an inspection tour of national government projects at Alupe University on Wednesday, Simiyu said that the government has supported the facility since its inception.
“We need to work with communities to ensure that they are able to ask for opportunities that can help them,” he said adding that strategic engagement was key for transformational development.
He urged the University leadership to offer programmes which resonated with the community with a view to developing the area.
Simiyu at the same time underscored the need to elevate Alupe Sub County hospital to a teaching and referral hospital. “This will help promote medical tourism in the Eastern Africa as people from neighbouring countries including from as far as DRC,” he said.
Simiyu further said that the government would do its best to pool resources together to ensure that issues of infrastructure at the facility were addressed and sufficient resources generated to enable the university to run its programmes smoothly.
Alupe University Principal Prof. Fabian Esamai stated that the government has supported the institution with a total of Sh600 million since 2016 for infrastructural development.
Prof. Esamai thanked the government for the enormous support adding residents had requested that Alupe hospital be elevated to a teaching and referral hospital through the University.
Busia Presidential Delivery Unit Director Martin Rotich said that the University was ready to be granted a charter adding that most of its infrastructures have been established during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s tenure.
Rotich noted that the ongoing construction of a library at Sh190 million was at 99 per cent completion and requested the CAS to petition President Kenyatta to allow the University to establish a medical school and its own hospital.
The CAS and his entourage inspected Busia- Malaba road, Malaba- Malakisi road and Alupe University College ahead of the anticipated tour of Western Kenya by President Uhuru Kenyatta soon.
By Salome Alwanda
