By Billy Mijungu

The Cabinet dispatch of January 21st, 2025, is poised to go down as one of the most consequential policy milestones of President William Ruto’s administration. Among the transformative decisions announced was the reduction of state corporations from 271 to 250. While this is a laudable first step, it should serve as a precursor to broader reforms aimed at correcting inefficiencies and enhancing accountability. As these corporations wind down, it is imperative to conduct comprehensive audits to ensure there is no cover-up of financial losses incurred during their operations. Transparency in this process will be key to restoring public trust.

Equally vital is the government’s focus on making state corporations financially self-reliant. In 2024 alone, pending bills from these entities stood at an alarming 94 billion shillings, highlighting the unsustainable reliance on the exchequer. By fostering financial independence, the government can reduce this burden while promoting better governance.

Another groundbreaking decision is the move to make travel and entry to Kenya truly free for all Africans. By eliminating visa requirements and ensuring instant approvals for others, the government is set to redefine tourism and continental integration. This visionary approach will not only attract visitors but also strengthen Kenya’s position as a hub for African unity and cooperation.

The Cabinet also unveiled the Kenya Cloud Policy, a critical step in solidifying the country’s reputation as the Silicon Savannah. Hosting data centers will position Kenya as a digital innovation leader, creating jobs and attracting investments in the technology sector. Furthermore, the redefinition of foreign policy signals a commitment to bolstering Kenya’s global standing while ensuring that domestic priorities remain at the forefront.

A significant emphasis was placed on curbing inefficiencies at the county level. The era of counties abusing their mandates through duplication of functions must come to an end. By ensuring conditional transfers are utilized as intended, the government is reinforcing accountability and service delivery across devolved units.

Agricultural productivity, particularly in the grain sector, has reached historic highs, with output surpassing 800,000 tonnes. The new plant policy is expected to build on this success, boosting productivity and food security.

The Cabinet’s decisions underscore a results-oriented approach to governance, one that prioritizes efficiency, innovation, and sustainability. These bold steps reflect a commitment to building a Kenya that is not only self-reliant but also globally competitive. The path ahead is clear—deliberate action, accountability, and innovation must remain the hallmarks of this administration.

By Anderson Ojwang

The new geospatial plan for Kisumu City is a milestone in redefining the planning and the growth of the city in Kenya and Africa.

The Kisumu physical and land use development plan is envisaged to be implemented in 15 years and has divided the city into zones to spur development.

“The new plan will give value to land and through it, we envisage the city take off in terms of industrialization, real estate and other infrastructural development,” said Mr. Abala Wanga, the City Manager.

He said through the support of the Former Prime Minister and with the negotiation of Governor Peter Anyang Nyong’o’s administration with the French Government, the project got its funding through the Urban Support program.

“Kisumu geospatial plan has gone through all the legal process from the assembly and was launched officially. It is a legal document for the county government of Kisumu,” he said.

The plan came up with four zones that will guide the development of Kisumu City for the next 15 years namely the urban core area, which includes the lakefront and Central business district (CBD), the Urban renewable and regeneration area which includes the informal settlement, and eastern and northern extensions.

“ The new growth zones have been increased to 10. The map shows the first growth zone to be Kiboswa, Mamboleo, Kondele, Nyamasaria, Kibos, Chiga, Otonglo and Riat

Riat and Milimani have been demarcated as elite estates. In Riat Hills land ownership of land has been restricted to half an acre,” he said.

Abala said currently 46 per cent of the land in Kisumu City was vacant either through traditional ownership or undeveloped.

“We have prime areas for instance Dunga area, where we have semi-houses which could be converted into hotels and modern facilities. We ask the traditional owners to either enter into partnership with investors to develop or sell them and relocate to new areas and allow investors to develop the areas,’’ he said.

Abala said in the current plan Kibos area has been earmarked as an industrial park and it is anticipated to lead the industrial revolution of the city and Western Kenya at large.

“We expect the industrial park in Kibos will open the city to both manufacturing activities and the revived sugar industries will be pivotal in the growth.

We expect to move traders in Kondele and other parts of the city to the park to create employment for the people and have a central used business point,” he said.

He said the plan also provides for the creation of prime estates to offer both affordable housing and tackle the housing crisis in the city.

“Let the traditional land owners offload the land to allow for the construction of prime estate. Kisumu must develop and we must take a painful sacrifice.

It is sad that some people still bury their relatives in land in these envisaged prime estates. We will hold public participation to educate them and why they need to reconsider and seize the emerging land opportunity for their gain,” he said.

He said the plan also gives the provision of the lakefront that provides for the development of the front as a recreational facility for both local and international tourists.

Recently,  LV Marina, a lakefront facility was launched and the facility will offer luxurious residential homes, villas and apartments and state-of-the-art recreational facilities.

He said Kisumu is the cleanest city in Kenya and is ranked second in East Africa and position six in Africa and promised that within two years the city will compete for first position in East Africa and Africa.

By Anderson Ojwang 

Retracing the Luo socio-cultural and economic values is a cornerstone to the community’s future survival and relevance to new emerging dispensations.

That is why Piny Luo was conceptualized in Pathola, Uganda, during the installation of Ker of the Pathola to foster unity among the various Luo-speaking groups in Africa, Australia, and other parts of the world.

That is how Piny Luo was born in Kenya. The first event was held in Homa Bay in 2023, and the most recent was held in Siaya in December 2024, which brought community representatives from various parts of Africa.

The clarion call for Piny Luo is about Luo’s social- cultural and economic identity in the present and future generations.

Kisumu Deputy Governor Dr Mathews Owili says the Piny Luo initiative is a noble one that aims to spur the socio-economic and cultural growth of the community.

“The Luo community is diverse and we want to bring that diversity as a tool to create and recreate our social, cultural and economic agenda. It’s about setting an agenda through which we can pass over our practices to the next generations to come, ” he says.

Dr Owili says that by retracing the Luo identity and redefining the association, it would be possible and easy for the Luos across the various divides and spheres to help one another.

“We want to create the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood in Luos as a weapon to economic emancipation. We must walk and wake up to start our economic journey. 

If you look at our history of migration, Luo as a community was socially, culturally and economically endowed. That is the journey we want to recreate for now and in the future,”  he says.

He says the committee that oversaw the recent Siaya Piny Luo festival was working on a report and a framework to develop the community’s socio-economic and cultural blueprint.

“We want to make the PinyLuo an annual cultural event just like the Maa,  Turkana, and Marakwet among others and use the event to educate the public of our values and practices,” he says.

Dr Owili said the recent event witnessed the presence of President William Ruto, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga gracing the occasion.

‘“We had various Luo elders and leaders from Africa and other parts of the world . This was an important journey and now we have embarked on a mission to in future send teams to visit our brothers and sisters in various parts of the world to foster our unity,’’ he says.

President Museveni at the function said the age-long unity among the Luo community should now transit from only a political agenda to an economic one through the creation of creation and employment opportunities.

Museveni who was the Chief Guest at the event, challenged the community and its leadership to explore and exploit the four sectors of the economy to create wealth and employment opportunities.

 “ I was invited to the Luo East Africa meeting by President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. This unity is a good move and we envisage it for East and Central Africa to develop economically. 

You people are good, you play football, that is good. But we must be wealth creators. 

It’s good to be in sports but we need to understand the East Africa market and its economy. I am a farmer, I am in agriculture, I look for markets and the Ugandan market is not enough.

I have seen several youths. I want to educate them on wealth and employment creation and where they come from. There is always a problem with the poor. They do not know where wealth comes from.

In Uganda, we have four sectors where wealth comes from and through it, we are able to create employment.

Wealth, where does wealth come from?  The poor do not know where wealth comes from.

The four sectors that wealth comes from in Uganda are Agriculture, Business,  Service, and Technology (Computers). Sports and hotels are service sectors among others.

People talk about employment and where it comes from.  It comes from the wealth creators who employ people.

In Africa, I hear people talk about employment but they do not say where employment comes from. Employment comes from the wealthy.

The wealth is mine but I employ people and they get work. So you people, it is good you play football and we are happy. But you must remember about life. Life is not only about football or sports, we must create wealth in order to create employment.

So where does the wealth and employment opportunities come from? I have told you about the four sectors. In any sector that you venture in, you will be able to create wealth.

All these sectors require a market. The Kenyan market is not enough, that is why we are discussing the East African market.

 You need to understand the importance of the East Africa market; For instance, the United States of America (USA), they have economic strength mainly because of the large market.

 In their neighborhood, there is Latin America. They have vast wealth but they live in abject poverty. The reason being they do not have an adequate market.

I cannot come here and fail to talk about economic dispensation and independence. I am a wealth creator back at home, I am in Agriculture and keep commercial livestock.

 I am in dairy farming just like the Kenyan Maasai. I grow bananas. I have to look for a market. The Ugandan market help me but it is not enough, that is why I am saying as East Africa, Let us unite to get a bigger market

That is why I am grateful to witness the Luo festival, it is a vehicle to build a united East Africa  and Central Africa,” he said.

Matriarch and former  Karachuonyo MP Mama Phoebe Asiyo said President Museveni’s advice was timely and that the community should use its unity for economic empowerment.

“The Piny Luo festival was a positive move but now we must translate it into an economic agenda to create wealth and riches for the community. It is time we dedicated our strength and knowledge to an economic agenda,” she said.

Mama Asiyo challenged the governors, professionals and leaders from Nyanza to take up the leading role in the re-engineering of the region’s economic agenda for prosperity.

By Anderson Ojwang                           

The impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua could be fast waking up to the reality of the past when he was the country’s second most senior person in the administrative pecking orders.

The reality could be dawning on the former deputy president on his actions and reactions to various emerging issues when he was in the office and now is blaming his boss, President William Ruto.

During his tenure in the office of Deputy President, Rigathi rubbed both leaders and the public on the wrong side and now he is claiming that his actions and reactions were dictated and directed by his former boss.

On Sunday, when he spoke in Laikipia Rigathi claimed that President Ruto was the one instructing MPs on what to say and do in public.

“If you see MPs speak, just know Ruto has sent them. I was with him. He could write for me what to say.

He wrote to me what to say on various occasions and on the third occasion, I realized this man was not right. You remember how I used to speak and talk and then suddenly I changed.

You know he sits there, he has a pen and a paper, writes to you what to say. I realized that the president was setting me up with Kenyans.

For instance, the issue of shareholdings, that made be to be impeached. He is the one who told me to traverse the country and tell people about shareholding.

So one day he goes out and says he was speaking about shareholding as primitive and retrogressive yet he is the one who told me to say that.

He again told me that the old man of Kitandawili (former Prime minister Raila Odinga) that there will be no day, we will allow him to come close to us.

After I had said that on various occasions, I only saw Ruto with Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and Raila grazing cows in Uganda.

I realized that if I continued listening and following what he said, I would be lost.

He continued to write for me what to say. I would keep the paper in my coat pocket and would speak about different issues and not what he wrote for me.

All these MPs you see speak. He is the one who writes for them what to say. When that MP from Western says that Mt Kenya will be isolated. That is not the MP speaking, that is William Ruto. In Jesus’ name, let him be defeated.

I want to promise you, President William Ruto, here today in Laikipia, that you will not succeed in isolating the people of Mt Kenya from the rest of Kenyans.

I want to promise you William Ruto, you will not succeed in dividing Mt Kenya east and west, it will not happen.

I want to promise you William Ruto you will not kick the people of Mt Kenya out of the government,” he said.

Rigathi was impeached for among other reasons promoting tribalism, undermining the unity of the country, and promoting shareholding of the government among others.

Rigathi said he had placed trappers in specific corners of the State House to snare former Prime Minister  Raila Odinga from gaining access to the president.

He said he had informers who would call him should Raila be spotted in State House or near the president.

However, Ruto and Raila entered into a political handshake that birthed the broad-based government and currently the bromance between the two leaders is so telling.

Former Nyakach MP Ochieng Daima said Rigathi was being haunted by his past actions and reactions and was looking for a soft place to lay the blame.

“I really do not understand the claims by Rigathi that President Ruto dictated and directed to him on what to say in the public. Is Rigathi an infant who was being trained in speech? This is a total lie. Let him carry his own cross,” he said.

Ochieng said Rigathi was on a mission to be the leader of Mt Kenya and that was why he was concocting lies and using Ruto as his scapegoat and campaign tool.

He said Rigathi should accept his past and live in peace with the deeds instead of blame game.

“Let Rigathi speak the truth as a Christian.  He like lying and playing victim to the public gallery. We have not forgotten his hatred for some communities.” he said.

Homa Bay MP Peter Kaluma wrote in X handle  “Our Mt Kenya brothers took oath back in 1969 that presidency would never go beyond Mt Kenya, For this reason, whenever the presidency  goes to a person  outside Mt Kenya, they frustrate, create anarchy  and fuel civil unrest,”