Deputy President William Ruto is on a tour of Western Kenya, and on Friday he made his first stop at Navakholo, in Kakamega County. The Deputy President laid a foundation stone for the construction of the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) in Navakholo. Speaking at the function, DP Ruto said the government, through CDF, has channelled Kshs 40 million to the college. He added that the ministry will avail Kshs 20 million, in addition, to ensure construction and the setting up of the college is finished on time.
Ruto outlined the government’s plan to alleviate the burden of students who are always impeded by a lack of school fees, and as a result, can’t join colleges. He said the plan has been rolled out targeting mid-level colleges, and parents won’t have to strain to get school fees anymore, “We have decided that every student will receive a bursary of Kshs 30,000 and the government will also give them a loan of Kshs 40,000 so that their fees will be catered for, then later, when they are employed, they’ll have the chance to pay slowly, as university students do,” he said.
He urged parents and students to take advantage of the new initiatives by the government as education is being facilitated in all technical training colleges, “So that we have more young people who are trained and equipped with skills to make them productive and employable in Kenya.”
Deputy President Ruto also addressed the rehabilitation of the Kakamega-Navakholo-Musikoma road, faulting the contractor’s laziness, “I’ve told the respective Minister that the contractor must be replaced within a month,” he said. He said it’s a shame that there are Kenyan contractors who are given tasks but they do a shoddy job, and this leads the government to contact Chinese contractors instead.
Furthermore, DP Ruto said the government intends to connect more households to electricity in the rural electrification programme. He noted that 70,000 homesteads have been connected to electricity in Kakamega, even though only 27,000 homesteads were connected five years ago. He said other phases will ensure more houses are connected, “We have phase two and three of the rural electrification programme and we’ve set aside Kshs 1.5 billion for Kakamega. We expect to connect 30,000 more households to electricity,” he said, and that area leaders will be contacted to provide details of where the connection hasn’t been accessed.