Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o has urged the Senate to pass the County Resources Development Bill to operationalise regional economic blocs in the country.
Prof Nyong’o said the bill sponsored by former Nominated Senator Rose Nyamunga was crucial in legitimising the existence of the regional economic blocs to unlock funding for projects.
The bill which is before the Senate, he added, will create a legal framework for member county governments to pull resources together to fund development projects.
Currently a number of projects in agriculture, trade, industrialisation, tourism and health mooted by the various economic blocs across the country have stalled due to lack of a legal framework.
Nyong’o who was elected the Chairman of Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) during the body’s 10th summit held in Kisumu said the matter was top on his agenda.
“The biggest task facing us now is how to address the bottlenecks that stand between us and the realization of our dream to spur economic growth within the region through policy harmonization and resource mobilization,” he said.
The LREB which brings together Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay, Migori, Kisii, Nyamira, Bomet, Kericho, Nandi, Busia, Bungoma, Vihiga, Trans Nzoia and Kakamega counties was formed in 2018 to foster development in the region.
The fate of the projects among them a Sh2.8 billion regional commercial bank now hangs in a balance even after the county governments contributed millions towards the initiative.
Operations at the LREB Secretariat in Kisumu have also been greatly hampered by lack of funds.
Prof Nyong’o who took over from former Kakamega County Governor Wycliffe Oparanya called for partnerships to strengthen LREB secretariat as the push to operationalize regional blocs gains momentum.
Other regional blocs include Frontier Counties Development Council, The North Rift Economic Bloc, Jumuiya Ya Kaunti Za Pwani, the South Eastern Kenya Economic Bloc and Mount Kenya and Aberdares Region Economic Bloc.
By Chris Mahandara
