• Mwangangi said their predecessors in the three counties came up with the idea of an economic bloc for the region, but it was not actualised.
• She said in 2019 she had a meeting with assembly speakers from Kitui and Makueni where they discussed the revival of SECEB.
Ukambani counties are drafting a joint legislation to operationalise the South Eastern Economic Bloc.
The three counties are Machakos, Makueni and Kitui.
“Today the county assembly of Machakos deliberated on a report of a joint committee of the three county assemblies – Machakos, Kitui and Makueni. The report was intended to create a way for legislation for the three counties,” Machakos speaker Florence Mwangangi said.
Mwangangi spoke on Wednesday at the county assembly.
She said their predecessors in the three counties came up with the idea of an economic bloc for the region, but it was not actualised.
“As of 2016, there was a proposal for legislation to operationalise the idea. But then it died just like that,” Mwangangi said.
She said in 2019 she had a meeting with assembly speakers from Kitui and Makueni where they discussed the revival of SECEB.
“Today, the three county assemblies at the same time deliberated on the report that is intended to start a joint legislation so that the idea is actualised," Mwangangi said.
"Another joint committee is going to start the process of putting into place joint legislation that will lead to the birth of SECEB.”
Mwangangi said other regions in the country had already executed the idea.
She mentioned the Lake region bloc, Northern frontier bloc, Central bloc and coastal bloc.
“It’s not an alien idea because if you look at the world over, we have the European Union, Comesa, Igad, East African Community, among others. So, the idea is putting energies together so that resources are pooled together for the benefit of the people in a particular region.”
She said many investors have expressed interest in working with people from the bloc. The resources the bloc wants to exploit include avocados, coffee, coal and fruits.
“The idea is to boost the people’s economy including cultural development in Ukambani region,” Mwangangi said.
She said they would establish a huge cultural centre for tourism attractions within Machakos county to serve the bloc.
Mwangangi said residents will be involved in public participation before SECEB implementation.
Edited by A.N