LREB’s own initial objectives focused on having a commercial, development bank capitalised to the tune of Sh50 million from every county.
The core mandate is to achieve sustainable development through resource mobilisation and equitable economic integration in the lake region.
A few days ago, in a meeting convened by the National Government Implementation Committee and attended by Council of Governors, there emerged a landmark resolution.
That the multiple cess and levies charged on transporters coming from a specific county of origin shall be charged on that specific county and not the many counties the transporter was passing through.
This will reduce the cost of doing business. Of concern, though, is why the specific counties in various regional blocs had never resolved that eons ago. It brought to mind the focus on regional blocs and specifically the Lake Region Economic Bloc that I am part of in Kisumu.
The 2021/2022 year signals the start of the end of the second term of devolution. It is expected, hopefully after the review of the County Integrated Development Plan that the Lake Region counties shall be better economically.
The benchmarks and signals of success and growth are new huge capital investments that have been established, enhanced and increased infrastructural projects, thriving SME environment, increase in own-source revenue and a general reduction in poverty across the region.
To leverage on a catalysed growth for the Lake Region, LREB was formed. The core mandate actually is ‘To achieve sustainable development through coordination, promotion, resource mobilisation, innovation and enhancement of equitable economic integration in the lake region’.
LREB’s own initial objectives focused on having an enabler financial institution in form of a commercial and development bank capitalised to the tune of Sh50 million from every county.
As we approach the end of the term, less than half of the counties had remitted the amount to the kitty. This makes the regional bloc unable to activate this. The bloc was, in an effort to enhance trade, leverage on the huge market and focus on the economies of scale and also specialisation of individual counties.
Apart from the development bank that needed legal frameworks nationally, the failing sugar sector and the reforms needed ought to have been completed as a matter of urgency.
The discussions on this sector has witnessed many hotel discussions more than any other sector, more than coffee and tea, but while the latter two are on the pathway to recovery, we are stuck with many more expected hotel sugar meetings.
While the national government has made an attempt to do some infrastructure projects in the region and notably Kisumu, lack of coordination of all these, which the bloc should have a keen focus on, may be a hindrace.
An effective bloc with a plan should be working with policies that inform National Government Investments in the region and also their won individual budgets.
This ensures that if Kakamega County Referral Hospital was constructing a specialised regional Heart Centre, the next county can focus on something else.
A much deeper focus on markets, same or standardised charges and fees, coordinated regional infrastructural growth, investments and labour.
A rethinking and reinvigorating on LREB is needed.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
