by Jeff Otieno, Freelance Journalist, Kisumu
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The newly Elected Kisumu City Mayor Mr. Sam Onyango Okello has been urged by Kisumu City Residents Voice (KICIREVO) to address entrenched corruption in the council.
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Through a terse letter dated 26th Feb., 2008 to the mayor by the body chairman Audi Ogada, the group noted with concern the looting cartel in the treasury department which has denied the council billions of shillings in terms of revenue. “Supervision and monitoring of the officer in this department should be enhanced to ensure effective and optimum performance,†the letter read in part. The group further noted, “Corruption is evident on revenue collection bases, salary office, license and the audit.”
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  Okello, who is a Mombassa based business guru, will rely on his wealth of business connections and experience to address other issues like ghost suppliers who have fleeced the cash-strapped institution through a series of stagemanaged conspiracies with unscrupulous chief officers.
The softspoken business magnate’s election to the council early this week was received with enthusiasm by workers who have not been paid salaries for close to thirteen months.
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Sources at the institution who talked to this journalist on condition of anonymity appealed to the new mayor to investigate the prevailing discriminative antics where salaries are being paid based on patronage albeit at a compromising fee.
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its not just an issue of fighting graft, Kisumu needs a master plan to guide its growth.Of particular concern to me is the proposed by-pass. The design greatly hinders the expansion of kisumu. The bypass should be moved further out to start from Kisumu-Nairobi highway from Ahero through Kibos and then mamboleo. This will give Kisumu the opportunity to expand to Kibos and Ahero areas as well as Mamboleo.
Secondly the masterplan should look at ways to expand the industrial and service industry capabilities of Kisumu. Kisumu can be the hub for transportation and distribution for the COMESA region, as well as a financial hub too. On the industrial side Kisumu can be repositioned as the pharmaceutical and agri business hub.
These are the issues that the new mayor and MPs beed to address. Finally i reiterate my call for a monument to commemorate those Killed by the police to be located in Kondele and serve as a way to revitalize Kondele area.
What next for the Luo’s in Kisumu.
1.They burnt buildings and businesses and as a result they ended up losing up to 5,000 jobs. According to the Kisumu Chamber of Commerce it may take upto 15 years to get back to the level they were at prior to the riots. They even burnt BIDCO factory which was a large source of employment. Some of the one’s that left places like Thika, Naivasha and Limuru and went back home are being chased away by their relatives because there is not enough land to go around. They cannot go back to some of the places they fled from because their former employers may not be willing to take them back. Remember these are private enterprises so you cannot force them to employ these people.
2.People with commercial vehicles are still wary about taking their vehicles to Kisumu. As a result basic stuff like milk, bread and vegetables are hard to come by in Kisumu. They have to travel to Kisii to look for food. The matatu’s that were being operated by non Luo’s are no longer plying the route and they are the majority. In addition they burnt petrol stations and the cost of fuel is higher. How will they cope with the high cost of transportation?
3.As soon as the deal between President Kibaki and Raila is finalised the politicians will disappear to their usual hideouts and watering holes so the handouts will disappear. It will be hard to see these politicians once it is back to business as usual. Even Anyang Nyongo who was calling for another round of demonstrations will not be heard.
4.In some areas students did not go back to school because of the riots. The exams will be done at the same time at the end of the year so these guys will have to play catch up.
5.They burnt the vehicles of the Water board. This may have an impact on the quality of water that will be available for drinking. If the water is contaminated there may be an outbreak of diseases. Cholera and Dysentery come into mind. Remember how cholera used to wreck havoc in that area in the past?
The mayor has a major problem at hand. He has to completely move away from the General lackluster performamces that the City has been that has been the yardstick if the past City Mayors, with the exeption of Grace Onyango and Shakil Shabir.
First Mayor Sam Okello inherits a town destroyed by Law enforcement officers.
2. He inherits a City with a sudden polulation increase. people who will need jobs urgently in the near future if not yesterday. The man thus is faced with the task of making sure that adequate housing is generated to meet the demand of those many homeless people.
I must warn here that if I were this man, I would already be working on an “Emergency” kind of plan”. In otherwords Council members shoud be doing nothing now but “working 24/7 to come up with Ideas on how “KSUM SITY” will meet housing, supply essential services like Water Electricity and Food to the “SITY” residents.
I am surprised that this mans credentials are proudly highlighted as A Business tycoon from Mombasas. If that be so themn he needs to shift his base to the Lake side. Otherwise his performance will severally be challenged.
To me I do think that First and foreost the Mayor must ask Raila’s Government to give him assistance so that a population census can be conducted on the “SITY” residents. From here then a serious major plan can be put in place to deal with the expansion of “KSUM SITY”.
Unfortunately many a times elected mayors have often slept on the Jod while they wallow on the proceeds and the revenue of the City to build their own individual Empires. If the present Mayor is bent o doing this then I can assure you that “KSUM SITY” will have along way to go before you end up seeing some semblance to a CITY development.
For me I can only urge the Maor to take heed and to get to work. He owes this to KISUMU Residents.
K’Onyiego
IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE CITIZENS OF KISUMU CITY TO ASK
FOR MAXIMUM AND QUICK SERVICES FROM THE COUNCIL ALL THE TIME. IT WAS THE MISTAKE DONE BY EVERY CITIZEN OF KISUMU NOT TO BOTHER HOW THE CITY WAS BEING RUN IN FIRST INCIDENT.THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES HAVE BEEN DOCILE
MORE SO THE MIDDLE AND UPPER CLASSES IN KISUMU BY NOT DEMAND PROPER SERVICES FROM THE COUNCIL. LET THEM KNOW THE RIGHTS FROM NOW AND DEMAND GOOD SERVICES .
LASTLY ,THE NEW MAYOR MUST PREPARE TO WORK TIRELESSLY INORDER TO BRING KISUMU TO ITS FORMER GLORY WHEN GRACE AND ONDIEK WERE MAYORS. OTHERWISE,IF HE IS NOT READY TO WORK HARDER THEN HE SHOULD RESIGN BEFORE THE COURT OF THE PEOPLE DEAL WITH HIM.
IT LOOKS HON. RAILA HAS FAITH IN HIM AS THE ONLY CAPABLE PERSON WHO CAN UPLIFT KISUMU.THEREFORE,WE EXPECT HIM
TO DISCHARGE HIS DUTY EFFICIENTLY NOT TO DISAPPOINT RAILA. IF HE DOES THE OPPOSITE THEN THE LOU WILL START RAILA ‘S JUDGEMENT WHEN CHOOSING PEOPLE IN HIGH POSITIONS. THE OTHER TIME HE CHOSE OTIENO KARAN WHOSE PERFORMANCE WAS TERRIBLE AND ALOT OF CORRUPTION WAS WITNESS DURING HIS TIME.
LET OKELLO MOVE TO KISUMU TO DO REAL MANAGEMENT. AGAIN ,PEOPLE SHOULD DISCOURAGED COUNCILLORS WHO ARE ALWAYS IN THE MUNISPAL HALL HULL ALL THE TIME. THE LEAVE OFFICERS DO TO THEIR WORK WITHOUT INTERFERECE.
IT HAS BEEN VERY COMMON TO FIND CROUP OF COUNCILLORS
LOTAIRING AROUD THE HALL ALL THE TIME GOSSIPING AND ASKING FOR FAVOURS.
I understand the frustration here, but lets remember that the mayor cannot do it by himself. The MPs for the greater Kisumu should also play a role in this. What is needed is a move away from the talking which unfortunately is what we do in Kisumu. The neighbourhoods that need urgent attention are Kondele, Nyalenda, Bandani and Obunga These areas need to be upgraded in the same way the Johanessburg city has undertaken to revitalize Alexandria and Soweto. Parks and play grounds should be incorporated in the redevelopment of these areas. Kibos should be turned into an industrial center, take advantage of the fiber optic cable to transform Kisumu’s economy into BPO center. There are many plans that can be put in place but the will is always lacking. Enough pressure should be put on the leadership in Kisumu, the same way we exercise the demands on national politics, other regions are doing their part in developing their regions, in Kisumu all we do is complain and do nothing!! An example is this forum, four people have started threads on development agenda, yet more weight is given to political topics as compared to economic ones!
rison in Nyanza?
That is going against the grains of development in the slightest sense of stretched imagination.
Considering that this area, (Nyanza) where the government is building prison is among those economically deprived in the country. In my small world of Economic thought, I have never known or imagined that prisons are in any way, shape or form related or linked to development, leave alone having a police station. Some of those criminals destined for this prison would by stretch of imagination fall within the periphery of petty crimininals. The best the government will need to do, is to propose a structure, or an industrial plan which will bring the jobs back to the Economy. Such a plan could include reviving Miwani Sugar Mills, Kicomi Cotton Mills, bring Mumias, Muhoroni, Chemelil and the Lake Basin development Authority back to the full capacity of operations so people among those displaced by violence, those without jobs can get means by which to survive and not to commit crime.
Now, with this sort of project in the pipeline, then these kinds of industries mentioned above will help revive the lost glories of Nyanza as a Sugar producing belt and an area with some of the best brains in the country.
One would wonder how the government’s priority is twisted. Why would we build jails than even thinking of reviving the dilapidated economy, water and sewage system in the major towns like Kisumu are not up to the capacity or standard of the millennium city. We find that towns like Homa-bay, Kisii, Kericho, Oyugis, Awendo, Migori, Ahero, Kendu Bay among others, are yearning for sound municipal structures to help sustain their developments.
In countries like the USA and other first economies, the have a different approach to this kind of development. We see the city or the municipality take the initiative of planning and building the structures like roads, water and sewage treatment plants among others and then turn around and then charge for these services rendered to build a strong and sound security structure like the police, fire station, hospitals, health centers, clinics, police stations, constant clean water supply, sewage and sanitation, city jails or county or federal corrections facilities as the budget may allow them.
This is my recommendation for the Kenya government, with the new coalition government of the National unity in place. There need to be devolution of power with sound and equal distribution of the limited resources. Kenya need to have manufacturing industries like Creameries, Cement factory, Brewery, Sugar Refinery, light Auto parts production plants, fishing and fisheries, sport finishing for tourists and and tourism, Ship repair and manufacturing around the lake Victoria region area, extensive cash crop production like Cotton, Maize, Flower farms, millet and Sorghum. This needs to be encouraged by the government through making of loan and credits to the small business at a reasonable interest rates. In fact, will special arrangement, projects like these are well funded by the world bank and the donor countries. In a micro finance form of economy, progress looms. For the world Bank and the donor agencies to get involved and be satisfied, accountability and transparency has to prevail. If this is achieve, in the long run dependency and unemployment will be a thing of the past.
Well planned and thoroughly studied environmental impact assessment for the above proposed industrial projects can and will do very well and will supply a wide market in the country and will also span to the neighboring countries like Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda to provide the most need foreign exchange. With these industries in place and the strong economic environment and educated work force, tourism will come in strong, tertiary, service industries, transport, communication and telecommunication will no doubt fall in place like a jigsaw puzzle, of course, we assume that the rule of law, good governance, good well accounted for public policy are all set in motion and in place shall play a crucial role in minimizing the impact of crime and reduction for the need of such expensive jails at the expense of real grassroots growth and development essentials.
In essence, what I am alluding to, is that a K.Shs. 300 million for jail will not suffice to help fight crime. Unless and until the government turn around her reckless policies and do all it takes to stop and completely eradicate or prevent corruption and its vices, view Kenya as a one large economy not on tribal or regional basis, accountant for each and every public penny spent in development, no one will take them seriously in alleviating poverty or will count oneself in as a partner in development .
I also believe that building roads, improving telecommunications, improving and enhancing the high speed Internet accessibility, improving the banking system from being a cash economy to being fully electronic, and fulfilling the long awaited promise of rural electrification will cause a trickle effect from top to bottom and will create a multiplier effect and create economic linkages in the micro and macro levels of the economy which will help jump start the economic growth and then make the government, in this case, a public sector and the local government (municipality and the counties) to generate revenue in the form of taxes to help finance more needed projects like community public libraries, village polytechnics, village clinics, and affordable public transport system.
Imagine we have not even involved the municipal bonds yet. These are some of the methods which the local government (municipalities) can use to generate money by people investing in their interests. Now that, in itself, improves the participants’ level of the common person in her/his community.
The idea of a 300 million shilling jail is an idea not suited to development. Jails are synonymous to underdevelopment and lack of civilization. They occupy large space and do little to plough anything back to the local economy where they are built. They should not be our first line of though, at least not after the hotly contested flawed election Kenya had in December of 2007.
I consider the perennial water problem in Kisumu as the most urgent issue that must be tackled immediately.Many residents of kisumu suffer as a result water related illnesses due to consumption of contaminated water.
It is a shame that Kisumu should experience water shortage yet the town sits on a fresh water Lake! I was excited to hear the Minister for water development the Hon . charity Ngilu promising to tackle this problem once and for all.
I understand that a certain clique of civic leaders and politicians have been frustrating efforts to solve the water shortage problems since this will deny them an opportunity to vend water !