By Anderson Ojwang
The irony of the Governor Gladys Wanga administration. At one point, Wanga is shedding tears over the description of Homa Bay county as Yemen over dilapidated and collapsed road infrastructure.
On the other hand, Wanga and her administration have maintained studious silence over the ongoing nurses’ strike which has entered its sixth week.
Health facilities across the county are not offering services, with most remaining shut due to the nurses’ strike.
At Homa Bay Referral Hospital, the largest health facility in the county, the majority of wards, including the maternity ward, remained shut. Only Ward Three and Ward Four were operating at the hospital. The wards are run by a non-governmental organisation, assisted by a few workers employed by the hospital.
The residents have been forced to seek medical services in other counties, and even the victims of the Sunday violence on the Linda Mwananchi could not access medical services at the health facilities in the county.
Grievances
Among their grievances, the nurses want their CBA signed so that it is legally binding. The CBA provides nurses with career progression guidelines and allowances, among other benefits.
They want the 2017 return-to-work agreement their union signed with the Council of Governors implemented.
Parallels
Homa Bay county witnessed a parallel set of Wanga’s administration: a dysfunctional health department versus a functional and well-oiled political machine that traversed every part of the county, dishing out handouts while development slept on the rags.
On the eve and the D-day of the rally, youths allegedly pocketed between Sh 4,000 and above to stop the rally.
Homa Bay MP and Wanga’s right-hand man, Opondo Kaluma, told the boda boda operators that their motorcycles would be fuelled and that the funds had been channelled to their leaders.
In the National Cohesion and Integration Commission’s own translation of Kaluma’s statement: “As from today we are issuing the command that anyone that says one term, deal with them. Anyone that has worked with the other side, even if they were a driver and they feel they cannot walk with us, must now disappear. We are going to inspect all hotels and houses where they had booked; anyone who owns a hotel in Homa Bay must tell us all the guests they have; we must deal with those people and we might deal with the hotel too. I have paid for the fuel you will use to move across Homa Bay and Rodi. This is an ODM stronghold and we insist that Ruto is two-term. If anyone speaks of one term, deal with them.”
The pain
The contractors
In September last year, contractors and suppliers threatened to paralyse services at the county government over pending bills.
Senator Moses Otieno Kajwang last year said he had received a memorandum from contractors from Homa Bay County over unpaid pending bills.
The Homa Bay County Government has KSh 480 million in verified eligible pending bills owed to contractors.
Beyond stopping the rally, what about development?
Governor Wanga rightly wrote: “However, devolution matters. Some would ask what devolution has done? It is devolution, championed for decades by leaders including Raila Odinga, that has begun to give counties like Homa Bay a say over their own development and a share of resources once concentrated at the centre. This has turned the case for correcting marginalisation from a matter of goodwill into a constitutional guarantee.”
The conferences
Homa Bay County’s endless conferences are yet to yield any potential in the form of development and investments, despite the last high-level Homa Bay International Investment Conference in 2024, the Devolution Conference, and now the Smart Cities and Townships Conference scheduled for this month.
MOU
Governor Gladys Wanga recently signed an MoU with the World Smart Cities Forum to position Homa Bay as a pilot region for integrated development. The partnership will focus on healthcare, infrastructure, renewable energy, and industrial growth.
The Homa Bay International Investment Conference 2024
Homa Bay County stirred the public with high-voltage international investment and trade conferences that turned out to be pipe dreams.
In 2024, Governor Wanga hosted the second International Investment and Trade Conference, which was attended by President William Ruto and former Prime Minister the late Raila Odinga, among others. It was billed as a milestone in exploiting the endless potential of Homa Bay County, and afterwards, it gained a positive ranking.
During the recent International Investment Conference, the Homa Bay County Government and investors signed nine Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs).
Wanga commended all stakeholders, including the executive, partners, and sponsors, for their contributions to the success of the investment conference.
MOUs signed
The county government signed MOUs with various organisations, including Afropal International Limited, Ento Tech Africa Limited, Yazmark International, Rift Valley Products Limited, Manda University Trust, Fairdeal Real Estate, Kenya Shipyard Limited, and Redington.
Wanga said that in the agricultural sector, Afropal International Limited, in collaboration with the national government, would provide a framework for edible oil palm production around the Lake Victoria region, including Homa Bay County.
Yazmark International and the Homa Bay County Government are set to establish a 50-bed Mother and Child Specialist Hospital to tackle regional healthcare challenges.
“With regards to education, the county is expected to establish Manda University Kenya to specialise in health sciences and agricultural courses through a partnership with Manda University Trust,” she added.
The Governor said Fairdeal Real Estate is set to invest in affordable housing and student hostel construction projects to support the growing population in the county.
On the other hand, Redington, through the partnership, was also expected to generate solar power that would benefit beaches, schools, and hospitals not connected to the national grid in Homa Bay, which will promote employment and technology transfer.
Tragedies
The tragedy is that after the signing of the MOUs, nothing has happened, with no investors on site in the county.
The Riwa Industrial Park, which was expected to host investors, is incomplete and an eyesore.
Riwa, which is a joint project between the national government and county government, currently stands at 37 percent completion. This was despite the national government having contributed its 50 percent share of Sh250 million, while the county government had allocated and disbursed Sh250 million.
The sad reality is that at the Riwa Industrial Park, there is no roofing, and the fencing of the facility is incomplete.
Murang’a on the move after the conference
While Murang’a County, which held its investment conference last June this year, in October last year invited investors to bid and submit proposals.
Governor Irungu Kang’ata recently wrote on his X handle: “Invest in Murang’a now. The county formally invites applications for investment opportunities, particularly manufacturers.”
In the post captioned “Investment Opportunities in Murang’a County” , he called for public requests for proposals pursuant to Section 12(1)(E) of the Land Act, Cap 28.
What next after stopping the rally, and was it worth the investment?
