Homabay County Strikes Gold as Governor, Cyprian Awiti Signs a Shs 595 Billion Grant

Homabay County Governor Cyprian Awiti

Courtesy of Standard News. 

Homabay County has entered into a mega partnership with two international organisations that would see it benefit from Sh595 billion project. The money is given in form of grant.

The new partnership aims at turning the agriculturally rich and fish endowed county into an Agri-City with a vibrant mix of businesses, infrastructure and standard urban amenities.

The project is a joint venture between Good Earth Power, Urban Green Energy and the county, and will be rolled out in phases for a period of 30 years. The UK’s Good Earth Power is the major partner.

According to the master plan unveiled by the investors, the project will involve construction of 100, 000 houses, modern road construction and communication network as well as clean power generation. Other ventures will involve water purification, sewage treatment, waste management and construction of modern recreational facilities.  After signing the (MoU) on Thursday, Homa Bay County Governor Cyprian Awiti said: “This is a major investment that will turn round the economy of Homa-Bay County. I am telling the doubting Thomases to open their eyes wide and see what we are going to come up with. It will also go a long way to show that devolution is a reality in this country,” he added.

Partnership signed 

The partnership was signed at Serena Hotel, Nairobi by the Governor who was accompanied by his Cabinet and the Good Erath Power Chief Technical Officer Martin Gillard.

Mr Gillard said they have had similar projects in South Africa and announced that they would roll out the new project in the next few months.  Homa Bay County now becomes the second county after Machakos to sign such a multi-billion MoU with investors.

Last month, Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua signed investment MoU worth over Sh56 billion. The Homa Bay project, if well implemented is likely to transform the fortunes of the locals considering that the amount involved is almost half of the total country’s budget. This year’s budget according to budgetary estimates tabled by Treasury is Sh1.6 trillion.