Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi has asked the team implementing the ‘Go Blue’ Project to give a clear roadmap on how the counties shall be involved in the projects so that when they start, no one is left behind. – By Ramadhan Kambi.
The Governor spoke after receiving a delegation from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) team and the Jumuiya Ya Kaunti za Pwani(JKP) on matters touching on the validation phase of the “Go Blue” Project that was launched in March this year.
“I understand the importance of this project and what its future hold for our county and along the other counties at the coast region. However, for clarity and to make sure that no one is left behind, then there must be an MoU that will be used as a roadmap to the involvement of the counties,” the Governor said.
He said as long as the county is ready to be part of this ambitious project, there was need for a proper information on how the community which is the targeted group is going to benefit when the county is involved.
“The main beneficially of this project is the common mwananchi at the ground. Now we need to disseminate information to them on how they are going to benefit from such engagements. I am sure that the MoU will give a clear guideline on our participation as a county and the huge benefits this project will carry to the people of Kilifi county and the other counties that are a target of the same,” he said.
In attendance were County Executive for Education and ICT Rachel Musyoki, Devolution Executive Prof Gabriel Katana and Agriculture and Livestock Executive, Dr Luciana Sanzua.
The GIZ delegation was led by Henrik Scmidtke and his team that included Arnoud Meijberg and Brenda Nduta. Jumuiya Ya Kaunti Za Pwani(JKP) was represented by Gladys Mnjama.
Mr Scmidtke said the Go Blue project will have a number of components that include even some trainings that will be carried out in Vocational Technical institutions in the counties.
“There is going to be a lot of trainings for our people on matters touching on fisheries, aquaculture among other targeted trainings. There are a lot of benefits centred on this project,” he said.
He agreed with the Governor that an MoU was prudent and that the matter is currently being worked on.
According to Emmanuel Nzai, the CEO, of the JKP Secretariat, they are currently coordinating inception and validation engagements across the Jumuiya Ya Kaunti Za Pwani for the project since its launch in March this year.
“The GIZ engagement is one component of the European Union (EU) Go Blue Initiative. Their component focuses on integrating youth and women to contribute to sustainable economic growth in the coastal region of Kenya. GIZ will work on the aquaculture value chain development, skills development and matching as well as MSME support,” Mr Nzai said in a statement.
GIZ implementation entails strengthening inclusive and sustainable blue economy value chains. This will be achieved through providing labour market oriented and industry led, modularised Competency Education and
Training (CBET) in selected blue economy value chains in the coastal counties. The interventions are complemented by enterprise development focusing on the support of MSMEs in business development, especially improving their competitiveness.
