Kuria flaunts industrial parks as Miano takes over

Former Cabinet Secretary for Trade Moses Kuria flanked by the new Cabinet Secretary for Trade Rebecca Miano during the handing over ceremony on Wednesday, October 24, 2023, at the NSSF building. [Collins Kweyu, Standard]

Outgoing Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria listed the ongoing construction of industrial parks as one of his top achievements in the docket.

Kuria said his ministry focused on manufacturing, investment promotion and reorganising the country's approach to export.

''We came up with the establishment of county aggregated industrial parks in all the 47 counties to reduce post-harvest losses. So far I have launched construction of the parks in 16 counties with 31 others at different stages of procurement waiting to be launched soon," Kuria said.

Speaking while handing over the office to Rebecca Miano, the CS said that the fruits of these parks will be realised after about 18 months.

"The industrial parks will make every corner of the country industrialised, saying this is the model China and Asian tigers like Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan are using," he said.

Kuria moves to Public Service Performance and Delivery Management, taking over from Aisha Jumwa.

Miano was previously Cabinet Secretary for East Africa Community (EAC), Arid and Semi-Arid Lands and Regional Development.

Kuria asked Miano to reduce imports from the current 80 per cent against exports of 20 per cent.

''I urge my sister to expand that space so that we continue to create jobs and avoid imports that are not necessary,'' he said.

Miano said she had been briefed in the morning on the progress and understood the dream of the Ministry.

"The way I see trade, investments and industries is a growth pillar of this country and I will come with the best foot forward, energy required, and managerial skills to model this dream and achievements,'' said Miano.

Earlier, Miano handed over her docket to the incoming Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza. Malonza was previously CS Tourism and Wildlife which has now been taken by Dr Alfred Mutua.

Dr Mutua was CS of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, which has been taken to the Prime Cabinet Secretaries office.

Miano challenged Malonza to continue with the journey to achieving the EAC Integration dream.

Abdi Dubat, Principal Secretary of the State Department of EAC, said that under Miano's leadership, they went through the phase of transitioning to the fifth administration.

"This entails the mainstreaming of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Approach in our programming and shifting focus to result-oriented citizen-centric service delivery methods," Dubat said.

Dubat said Miano also steered them to being more intentional and proactive in strengthening ties with the EAC member countries both at the multilateral and bilateral levels.

"Today we are able to consult on critical regional agenda and resolve trade bottlenecks. For example, in August this year, the CS resolved the maize exportation ban by Tanzania that led to over 200 trucks of maize that had been denied export permits to be granted a temporary relief. Similarly CS has been able to resolve trade bottlenecks with Uganda," Dubat said.

Malonza pledged to embrace the initiatives showing solidarity and commitment in executing duties in her new docket.

"I will take the shortest time to learn and adapt because we have to keep going. I promise my sister Rebecca to take the mantle and implement the initiatives that you had with your supportive stuff,'' she said.