Nyong’o, Owili absent during Kisumu Madaraka Day fete

Kisumu County top executive led by governor Prof Anyang Nyong’o and his Deputy Mathews Owili gave the Madaraka Day celebrations in the county a wide berth.

None of them were present at the low-key event held at Kisumu’s Jaramogi Oginga Odinga sports ground on the excuse of being held up elsewhere outside the county.

 Nyong’o was reportedly out of the country while his Deputy Owili was away in Nairobi to grace a business event.

 Owili said he had travelled to Nairobi to preside over the launch of findings from the Kenya Small Firms Diaries Study at Sarova Imperial Hotel.

 The study was conducted by the Financial Access Initiative (FAI) to shed light on the financial behaviour of businesses in Kisumu County and provided valuable insights into their challenges and priorities.

 The research was conducted in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Kwale.

and emphasised on the crucial role played by small businesses as the engines of economic progress and the heart and soul of local communities.

 Kisumu is one of cities considered as the hub for business in the Nyanza region. But it has been on the news for negative publicity during the opposition demonstrations with picketers destroying some of the investments in the region.

 The study graced by Owili revealed that 51 per cent of the adult population in Kisumu County own small firms, with 34 per cent being male-driven, and 15 percent female entrepreneurs. Access to loans and capital investments emerged as a major challenge for these firms.

 According to the Deputy Governor, the county government had invested massively to integrate value chains along the agricultural and financial sectors to allow SMEs to scale up their operations hence it was vital for him to attend the function.