POLITICAL POSITIONS CAN NOT BE DEVELOPMENT; SAYS OPARANYA

BY LUKE KAPCHANGA

Holding high government position does not make one influence development in his region.

The minister for planning , Wycliffe Oparanya says that government development agendas can not be under the direction of political leaders.

It is upon , development programs from the grassroots, that projects are funded depending on priority and not based on political interests .

Most of the development projects are channeled through line ministries, and depends on priority before being funded, which is in response to the need by the community concerned .

“There is no way a political leader will influence development in his or her area, without going through district development committees, which are tasked with such matters”, he said.

Mr. Oparanya speaking in Webuye , when journalists asked him why Western province lagged behind in development, responded that it is upon the residents themselves to initiate viable projects, without necessarily expecting political involvement.

He gave the example of his ministry, adding that they have information affecting the whole country in terms of need and expectation, but they can not narrow it down to one region.

On investment, he stated that elites from the community can not be blamed for not investing in the region, when it has no returns.

When asked if political elites from western rarely invest in the region , and if he thought this action contributes to under development in the region, his answer was,

“For any meaningful investment, one has to consider better returns before taking the risks, and this may be one reason, why locals fear”, .

He said local leaders may in future look at the possibility of venturing into large scale investments only which can benefit the entire community.

But as he said this, he could not explain why, most of the investments are controlled by what are said to be outsiders who have seen the business potential.

The Equity Bank CEO, James Mwangi late last year challenged the elites from Western province to exploit the business potential in the region as they are being seen as markets only.

Speaking at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Mwangi blamed lack of entrepreneurial skills by the residents yet opportunities are enormous.

He complained that development is low in western because , the profits generated by business is taken elsewhere and not re-invested as the investors are not locals.

Yet, Oparanya blamed divisive politics as part of under development in the region, and as a community they have no clear political direction .

He claimed that the Luyia community will never vote as a block because of narrow and individual interests of leaders.

“These people are scattered everywhere, due to their different ethnic background and will never work as a team”, he emphasized.