Governors firm up SEKEB

SEKEB: Malombe, Wavinya
Mutula make key agreements

Governor's Press Service,
WOTE

The three South Eastern Kenya Governors Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni), Wavinya Ndeti (Machakos) and Julius Malombe (Kitui) on Tuesday met in Machakos to discuss mechanisms of escalating the common social and economic interests of the economic bloc (SEKEB).

Top on the summit meeting agenda was creation of a secretariat and appointment of a Chief Executive Officer of the bloc after the three county assemblies passed the SEKEB ACT, which was assented to by the governors and gazetted. Machakos is set to gazette the ACT this coming Friday.

Other key issues discussed include:

Aligning the three counties' development agenda to that of the national government for accelerated regional development;

Following up on the Green Climate Funding proposal which if approved, each county will benefit with Sh 1 Billion to fund climate smart and green projects;

Collaboration with Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC) and KPLC to increase last mile connectivity across the region;

Mainstreaming climate smart agriculture to promote food security through massive water harvesting; and

Creation of an enabling environment for the youth to engage in income generating activities.

The governors elected Julius Malombe of Kitui to chair the bloc for the next one year.