Kenya is a mitumba country! From cars to food to clothes, we import almost everything. This is undeniable truth.
It’s even ridiculous to hear the reasons given by the government in readiness to abolishing “mitumba” cloths in Kenya .
But things are about to turn around as kitui county has launched its first textile industry in kenya under Charity Ngilu administration.
Kitui County is set to benefit from the garment making initiative spearheaded by Governor Ngilu’s government.The pilot garment project at Syongila Training Centre aims at altering the locals prolonged dependency on goods and services from other areas.
Ngilu’s leadership seeks to ensure that goods that can be produced locally using locally available resources and skills won’t be acquired from outside the county.
Today I proudly open doors to our Kitui County Textile Centre (KICOTEC). A first by a County government. Employment, cost saving, growing local economy, wealth creation. Endless possibilities. KICOTEC The Pride of Kitui. #KituiCountyTextileCentre#KeepingThePromise@UKenyatta pic.twitter.com/1hS5C1K2vf
— Charity Ngilu (@mamangilu) October 27, 2018
The county administration had embarked on massive youth training where hundreds of youths sponsored by county government enrolled at SEKU and Trend Links College in Nakuru for courses in artisanal mining, textile making and ICT skills.
The success of the project will in the long run end spending county funds outside the county on services locally available and will increase money circulation within Kitui.
The Garment making factory is aiming to start off with making all school uniforms of schools within Kitui, games kits, Church organization’s uniforms and embroideries among others.This shall bring to an end the heavy spending by county schools and organizations on purchase of clothing necessities alongside provision of dependable employment opportunities to the youths.
The first county garment making factory is located Syongila Polytechnic premises’ that has been recently elevated by the Kitui county administration a textile centre and is scheduled to be opened soon, with the other factory proposed to be built at Kyuso in Mwingi.The county has staffed the centre with all the necessary equipment, clothing materials and sewing machines to ease the mass cloth manufacturing.
One thing that oddly stood out during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jamhuri Day speech on December 12 2017 was his zealous articulation of the “Big Four” development agenda of housing, security, affordable healthcare and manufacturing caught many by surprise.
Since then, he has proved it wasn’t mere lip service by keeping off politics and fixatedly effecting extensive re-organization of ministries and state departments to enable seamless delivery of the programs. He has gone to the extent of calling for rapid implementation of legislation that will ensure timely delivery.
So, exactly how will the Big Four affect you? According to the draft budget policy 2018, the government plans to build one million affordable housing units over the next five years in a Sh2.6 trillion project aimed at dealing with the perennial housing shortage in cities and urban centres. It further seeks to create 1.3 million manufacturing jobs by 2022, expand food production and supply, provide universal health coverage for all Kenyan homes and achieve 100 per cent health coverage for every Kenyan.