No part of Kenya will be left out in national development for political or ethnic reasons, President William Ruto has said.
Speaking at Kondele, Kisumu City, on Saturday, Ruto said the two vices had held Kenya back for long.
He has been on a four-day inspection of development programmes in Migori, Homa Bay, Siaya and Kisumu counties since Wednesday.
“I want to assure you that we will work together, shoulder to shoulder, to transform Kisumu and every part of Kenya,” he said.
Ruto thanked the people of Kondele for rallying behind the broad-based Cabinet he appointed recently, and former Prime Minister Raila for heeding his call for national unity.
“I want to thank Raila for being a Kenyan patriot, for being a great leader, for putting aside our differences so that we can unite the country for prosperity,” he said.
Further, Ruto thanked Kenyans for widely supporting Odinga’s candidature for the position of African Union Commission chairperson.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Governors Anyang Nyong’o of Kisumu, Simba Arati (Kisii), Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay), and Cabinet Secretaries, MPs, MCAs and a host of other leaders were present.
Earlier, Ruto broke ground for the Lake Victoria Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, a project of the Kenya Maritime Authority being undertaken by the Kenya Shipyards Ltd to enhance marine safety in Lake Victoria.
This is part of a Sh3.5 billion infrastructure upgrade at marine sites in Busia, Siaya, Kisumu, Homa Bay and Migori counties.
Each year, 5,000 people, mostly fishermen, drown in Lake Victoria in boat accidents, a figure the President said will significantly reduce thanks to the new facilities.
Ruto also commissioned the Lake Basin Development Authority Rice Mill Project in Kibos, with a processing capacity of 4,000 tonnes an hour.
This will promote rice cultivation in the more than 6,000 acres in Chiga, East Kano, and West Kano schemes, supporting more than 10,000 households.
He then laid the foundation stone for the construction of the 2,384-unit Lumumba Estate Affordable Housing Project in Kisumu Central.
This is part of the 10,000 units set to be built in Kisumu County under the housing programme, which mainly targets Kenyans at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
Ruto urged local youth to take advantage of the many opportunities brought by the housing project to earn better livelihoods.
“I have instructed the contractor that construction work at this project will be undertaken by the youth of Kisumu,” he said.
Additionally, he said that the Government will build 12 fresh produce markets in Kisumu County and spend Sh800 million to connect 12,000 households to power.
Ruto wound up his visit to the region by commissioning the Nyabondo Trauma Centre in Nyakach Constituency.
He thanked the European Union for equipping the mission hospital with a KSh500 million grant.
The 150-bed capacity facility boasts of specialised equipment, including theatres, an ICU and High Dependency Unit, mainly for treatment of accident victims.
At the same time, the President called on Nyakach MP Owuor Aduma to speed up the setting up of ICT hubs in every ward in the constituency so that the national government could equip them.
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