In a bid to help increase Investments and job opportunities in Lamu County, a gubernatorial candidate has promised to strengthen Private -Public partnership if elected.
Lamu County’s first woman governor candidate Umra Omar says the move will aid the local communities in terms of job opportunities.
In an interview with journalists, Omar said she will ensure locals are given opportunities in the multi-billion Lappset project.
“We are ready to bring in leadership that will focus on the core issues affecting Lamu people including health, education, land injustices and proper environment,” she said.
The Lamu governor hopeful, who is running in a Safina party, said it has taken ages for the people of Lamu to get justice and blamed politicians for lying to the people in order to win political seats and then disappear.
She currently claims that politicians will start issuing tittle deeds, free flour, and last-minute projects as a bait to win people’s hearts.
Ms Omar, who was accompanied by her deputy governor designate Julius Ndegwa, stated that her administration will serve the people on a daily basis rather than ‘Tuesday to Thursday’ as the current regime does because the leadership is based outside Lamu.
Lamu is a very rich county to her, with key resources such as the Lapsset project, which is being built as the heart of the African economy.
“We want Lamu residents to be given priority, in terms of employment, Community services on daily basis, our rights must be considered each day before the county expands,” she said.
Omar stated that Lamu, with a population of only 150,000 people, is rich and that there is no reason for the county to be lagging behind in terms of development.
She expressed regret that a community like Basuba within Boni Forest still faces barriers to education, with schools potentially closing for four years.
Concerning agriculture, she stated that it was unfortunate that cotton, Bexar, and cashewnut farming had all failed, and that the fishing industry also did not benefit local fishermen.
“We do not have value addition in Lamu county, we have zero industries right now at the moment , we have a vibrant youth force who are ready to work all of them are on boda-boda and drug abuse,” he said.
Part of her vision is to invest in the health sector so that it can benefit other counties such as Tanariver and to stop referring critical patients to Kilifi and Mombasa.
She claims that the Blue Economy has also been overlooked, despite the fact that the county is at the center of the sector.
“The government or administration of mama Umra together with Hon. Ndegwa will ensure Lamu goes digital to address the current problems,” she said.
She stated that private-public partnerships will be important in her administration, and that she will establish bilateral relations to create a platform for investors to come to Lamu and do business.
Omar stated that there are investors who want to come and invest in Lamu County, but they must be assured of the security of their investments as well as the availability of workers.
Her vision is to take Lamu to the global market and to wean the country off of cheap street politics.
Ndegwa, for his part, stated that he was pleased to be Omar’s deputy governor because she was not tribal, making her the best governor for Lamu.
According to the former Lamu West MP, the current leadership has failed to transform the county on development because they do not live in Lamu, unlike their team, which lives in Lamu and is familiar with the problems.
“The previous leadership has been using ethnic differences and religion to get into leadership and our government will include all people of Lamu so that we are all part of the government,” he said.
Ndegwa said they are on the ground seeking votes and promised peaceful campaigns all through.
Omar and Ndegwa will battle it out with the incumbent governor Fahim Twaha who is seeking his second and last term, first Lamu Governor Issa Timammy and former Deputy governor Eric Mugo.
