Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong now wants the proposed construction of a dry port by Uganda done in Busia and not in Naivasha as proposed.
He has called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to rescind the decision to have Uganda construct a dry port in Naivasha saying Busia is better suited to host the port.
Speaking during President Museveni’s visit in Mombasa last week, President Kenyatta said that the land is meant to foster the Kenya-Uganda relations.
President Museveni said the constructed port in Naivasha will act as a base for its cargo that land at Kenya’s Port of Mombasa.
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Speaking during a consultative meeting with 53 Members of the County Assembly of Busia at the Busia Agricultural Training Centre on Monday April 1, 2019, the Governor said Busia should have hosted the dry port due to its proximity to Uganda, Rwanda and Southern Sudan.
“We have enough land to have the dry port constructed here; having Uganda to build a port in Naivasha will hurt the economy of Busia County,” he said.
Governor Ojaamong said the meeting agreed to improve on revenue collection which he said had realized a declining trend for since 2013/2014 financial year.
“We want to give Village, Ward and Sub County authority to supervise and collect revenue as we embark on meeting the target of 452 million for the financial year 2018/2019,” he said, adding that the World Bank has allocated Sh47m for capacity building and public participation.
Governor Ojaamong said the absorption rate for development projects in the County is a paltry 9 per cent warning that future contracts will be handled by contractors who have the financial muscle to execute such contracts without seeking for down payment.
He said future ward projects should be those that affect residents directly like provision of safe and clean water, roads and affordable health care.
Speaking last week President Kenyatta said by August this year, the SGR will have reached Naivasha adding that his government will avail land in the town for Uganda to develop a dry port for its cargo.
“I have confirmed to President Museveni that with that development in Naivasha and then moving the SGR to Malaba, goods will be able to move from Mombasa to Malaba in just two days,” President Kenyatta said.
