What is the mandate of the Kerio Valley DevelopmentAuthority?
KVDA is a wholly government-owned state corporation in charge of regional development in Kerio Valley. Our mandate is to undertake river basin conservation and management through integrated development programmes. It aims to improve the region’s per capita income by spurring economic growth using available resources in a sustainable manner.
Which counties does KVDA cover?
Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Samburu, Trans Nzoia, Turkana and West Pokot.
What resources are in the region for KVDA to help exploit?
Kerio Valley has all the five sources of energy in abundance: geothermal, hydro power, oil, solar power and There is also up to 300,000 hectares of irrigatable land. We have stored more than 1.6 billion cubic metres of water at Turkwel Dam, which could be used to irrigate 30,000 hectares immediately, but we are still implementing this so we can produce sugarcane. We can produce more than I50,000 tones annually in the lower Turkwel region and help the country reduce the sugar deficit we have.
In Turkana, we want to use underground water to irrigate. We are working on a pilot centre pivot to pump water on more than 150 acres, and if it works, we could add another 200,000 hectares.
We also have livestock in abundance and could put up a modern European-standard slaughterhouse so our people can export meat.
KVDA has been in existence for many years but is yet to achieve many of its objectives. How comes?
KVDA, like other Regional Development Authorities, has been plagued by mismanagement. It lost focus on its core mandate and became just a source of employment, with little work and productivity. The RDAs have also been transferred from one ministry to the other and along the way, the mandates were mutilated. Some of the mandates were taken to water, agriculture and environment ministries.
Some of the projects started by RDAs were transferred to ministries, like the Turkwel power plant, which was started by KVDA and taken to Energy ministry, and same with Tarda, the power generation project that was also taken over. This left the regional bodies financially weak and hence struggling to survive without sources of revenue.
How have you refocussed KVDA to its mandate?
Since I took over, I have used my experience in financial management to find ways we can raise internal revenue and restructure KVDA. Both the board and staff were resistant to some changes, but I convinced them we have to focus on revenue generation if we have to survive. We have started several income-generating activities, including honey production in Pokot and Baringo areas. We produce pure, original and organic honey, applying world- class standards. We want to increase honey production from 700,000 tones annually to more than 2 million tones.
Today, KVDA is also a seed merchant, working with the Kenya Seed Company. We are producing seeds for arid and semi-arid areas. We are making seed grass in Baringo, soya beans and sim sim seeds, and also focusing on mango production.
As CEO, I have cut financial wastage. From a situation where KVDA was defaulting on payment of salaries and servicing loans, we have put in place stringent resource management measures to meet our obligations, unlike other RDAs, which are still struggling. Even when we delay to get government disbursements, KVDA can meet its obligations.
The 14-floor KVDA plaza is another a source of revenue through rent collection. I also embarked on repairs, including replacement of lifts. People were not paying rent, and we asked them to do so. In 2012, we were getting about Sh30 million annually. We improved to Sh60 million the following year, and now we are at more than Sh70 million, and we give the services due to our tenants and clients.
We have also built the southern wing of KVDA plaza, and at a very minimal cost of not more than Sh400 million. It’s amazing because the work is enormous, well done, with focus on value for money. In a few months, we will commission it to add to KVDA’s revenue base.
Through the Wei Wei project, communities in Pokot can now earn up to Sh100 million through irrigation annually.
This is a big paradigm shift from where I got KVDA about four years ago.
Any changes in terms of staffing to help improve services by KVDA?
I found KVDA with 600 staff, of which only 200 were in the field. When I went round our stations, I realised nothing was going on in the field. Most staff were just idling here at our KVDA Plaza headquarters and drawing allowances, and all technical staff were just wasting time in Eldoret. The programmes running had collapsed and were not generating money.
So I started rationalising the staff by looking at their weaknesses and strengths and also opening up regional offices in all the counties we cover. I redeployed staff to the counties and mandated them to revive all our projects. There was great resistance by staff and some board members, but I insisted we had no option but to have staff work to produce revenue for the authority. I told the board they had employed me to change KVDA and we can only do so if we stand with our decisions. I insisted on the plan and now we are earning from our farms and projects.
Which other major projects are you undertaking?
We have also done more than 81 water pans at less than Sh5 million, unlike in the past, when they would cost up to Sh20 million. We have learnt that with proper management, we can spend less and achieve more.
We are also undertaking thee major multi-purpose dams — at Arror, Embobut and Kimwarer. The projects will help to produce 120 Megawatts of electricity.
This will bring under irrigation about 8,000 hectares of land and support food security. The projects will also supply clean water to 110,000 households. There will also be conservation activities within Embobut water tower and at Arror and Kimwarer to save our rivers, which are drying up.
We do not want Kerio Valley to dry up and cause more conflicts about water and pasture. This has been a major problem. We are working with county leaders to support peace efforts.
The centre pivot project we are undertaking in Turkana is already causing excitement because it is in an area where they don’t know about rain. People are anxious to see the irrigation project that will turn the desert into a green environment, and we are proudly working on the same.
Has insecurity, especially banditry, affected the achievement of your mandate?
Yes to a large extent, and that has mainly been caused by conflicts on water and pasture, especially by nomadic communities.
That is why we have to focus on resolving issues around the two resources.
Has KVDA’s work overlapped with what county governments are doing?
There is some confusion in terms of implementation, but our roles are very clear. As a national government outfit, we try as much as possible to work with counties. There are projects, such as on seed production, where some county governments are buying seeds from us and selling to farmers.
There are many grey areas in terms of our mandate in comparison to counties. KVDA is acting more as a commercial or business entity of the national government, but we are working with counties in many areas to serve the public. So far in our region, we have not had serious conflicts with the counties we cover. We are working with them on key economic issues like the North Rift Economic Block, especially some sectors like tourism. We need to continue working together with counties.
What about the communities in the region? How are you involving them?
We always work with all stakeholders, including the public, to ensure they are on board. However, in most cases, we engage in public education when we are sure the projects we are talking of have funding and will take off.
We don’t want a scenario where you give people hope then later on, we fail to get funding. That can enrage residents, who have suffered many years of marginalisation.
How are you working with political leaders in the region?
We have been meeting the leaders from various counties and they are really supportive of our projects. In Elgeyo Marakwet, political leaders have supported the multi-purpose dams we are putting up because they know there will be major positive impacts of the projects on the residents. We are working with all the governors very well, and many of our leaders now understand our mandate. We have showcased our strength in terms of regional development and played a key role working with the political leaders to achieve our objectives.
KVDA recently launched a masterplan for the region. Tell us about it.
We have mapped out all major resources and opportunities in the region. The masterplan covers all six counties there and we are drafting it in digital form so anyone worldwide can know what is available in Kerio Valley in terms of resources.
We have also come up with a five-year strategic plan through which we plan to implement some key projects within the set time. We have to work with counties to avoid duplication of the projects, so counties handle specific areas.
What major problems are you facing in achieving KVDA’s objectives?
We don’t have enough funding to help us utilise the resources we have to change the region’s economy. We lack adequate political goodwill to ensure people know what they need to do.
And finally, we have issues with people or organisations thinking small instead of investing jointly on specific mandates and functions. We must avoid duplication and splitting of functions, which ends up denying us opportunity to enjoy economies of scale.
What is the future of KVDA?
We are stable and now focusing on moving away from exchequer dependence, and the sky is the limit for us. Though we are not fully out of the woods yet, we want to see a situation where we will be able to give the government a cheque as a return on investment, and that will be in the next four or so years. In the end, our target is to be quoted on the stock exchange.