Mudavadi, Wetang'ula to meet Western governors and elders

@eosere

Prime Cabinet secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Speaker Moses Wetang'ula will be in Busia today.

The two leaders will be meeting governors from the Western region as well as officials from the Western Council of Elders.

The meeting will take place at former Labour Minister Philip Masinde’s home in Busia town.

Governors expected at the meeting include host Paul Otuoma (Busia), Bungoma’s Kenneth Lusaka, Kakamega’s Fernande’s Barasa and Wilber Ottichilo (Vihiga).

It will be the first meeting the leaders are holding in Busia since President William Ruto took oath of office as commander in chief.

Mudavadi and Wetang'ula are Ruto's point men in Western, since the two hold some of the country’s key positions.

A similar meeting was held at Mudavadi’s Malulu home in February 2021.

Western leaders in attendance asked the government to revive the collapsed sugar industry, which is the region’s economic backbone.

The leaders under the Western Elders Council, then, said the collapse of factories and poor maize and tea returns pose a threat to the region's food security and crime due to loss of employment.

They also said the Luhya and Teso communities, which border the country’s biggest trading partner, Uganda do not get any share of economic benefits from the accruing trade.

The leaders said out of the Sh400 billion worth of trade earnings that go to Nairobi, all the region gets is poor infrastructure and a lack of basic social amenities in towns.

The Council of Elders also decried the erratic power supply by KPLC, which they said has affected efforts by residents to invest in agribusiness cottage and hospitality industry.

The leaders further said Western has been affected by rising unemployment occasioned by the increasing national debt, lack of investments and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, since its residents are mainly wage earners who have lost their jobs.

They said the region had been marginalised in state appointments under the Jubilee administration.

In today’s meeting Governor Otuoma is expected to address the thorny issue of ongoing demolitions in Busia.

The county administration has been criticised over the demolitions, which the devolved unit says is meant to pave way for the rehabilitations of key infrastructure especially roads.

Majority of demolitions are happening where traders encroached public land.