County opens US investment office

By ERIC LUNGAI

Vihiga County: A secretariat to co-ordinate investment between the Vihiga county government and the US has been opened in Dallas.

This follows a visit to the US by the Vihiga County Governor Moses Akaranga during which Kenyans in the diaspora promised to invest back home.

Addressing journalists yesterday in his office in On Tuesday town, the governor said he had signed deals in the US worth millions of shillings, which would help improve the lives of residents.

“I’m pleased to say the journey to the US was successful as I met many investors who are willing to invest in Vihiga County. We have signed deals with most of them and they will start coming to the county any time soon to start investing,” said the governor.

In addition to seeking investors in the US, the governor said he marketed the county’s tourism by discussing the diverse cultural sites and resources within the county.

Mr Akaranga said that he had met with people from Vihiga who have settled in the US and they were willing to work on improving the general lifestyles of the residents by investing in the county.

Single classroom

“Most of the investors have pledged their loyalty to come and work on the roads and hospitals in the region which had been neglected for a long time. This is with a view to making Vihiga one of the best performing counties,” he said.

The governor said three containers worth of medical equipment that had been donated would soon be shipped into the country from the US.

Akaranga further noted that he had challenged the sons and daughters of Vihiga in the diaspora to come and adopt a single classroom where they learned in their younger years so that they can develop learning. He said most of those he met had agreed to this and were already working towards it.

He also said some had donated textbooks which would be distributed among schools in the county.

Akaranga had noted that Vihiga was arguably one of the poorest and most densely populated, constantly receiving negative publicity because of food deficits. He said the county’s high population growth rate cannot be sustained by the infrastructure.