‘Educate girls to ensure gender balance in jobs’

By BRYAN TUMWA

Kakamega County: Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya wants parents to take their girls to school to raise their competence to acquire jobs at county level in line with the one-third gender rule.

Oparanya announced that once recruitment of personnel at county level begins, the one-third gender rule would be strictly adhered to as he encouraged female students to ensure they attained the highest level of education.

“When we begin recruiting, we will be looking for women who are educated to ensure that we meet the constitutional requirement of gender balance. The jobs will be advertised in at least two daily newspapers and everyone is encouraged to apply, but they must follow correct channels,” he said.

Oparanya said he would go ahead with a plan to employ Early Childhood Development Education teachers despite the function being yet to be devolved to county level by the Transition Authority.

300,000 votes

The governor was speaking in Buchenya Girls Secondary School in Butere constituency where he also pledged to donate a bus to the school, through his government. The school was started in 2003 under the patronage of Oparanya during his tenure as the area legislator.

“When it comes to infrastructure in primary and secondary schools, the national government is never involved. These schools started benefiting with the advent of CDF. Your area MP should now take over and ensure CDF is effectively used to bring development to our schools,” he said.

While addressing residents during the same occasion, the governor reiterated his earlier stance of declaring that the county should be given a more deserving role in ODM because of the support it accorded the party leader Raila Odinga in the last polls.

“The party should look at Western and reward us accordingly. More than 300,000 votes that Raila scooped in the presidential race came from Kakamega,” said the governor.