Kisumu which means a place where people meet to exchange goods is indispensable to Trade relations with Uganda- Kenya's chief trade partner.
Conferred city status in 1996, Kisumu has been a hub for fishing and tourism. The government has been gradually improving the state of infrastructure in Kisumu over the years.
The city flagship project, the port of Kisumu was largely dormant for the last 20 years hence confining transportation of trade goods to roads leading to congestion along the Uganda- Kenya border at Malaba.
For a fraction of the cited quotation, Kenya navy engineers, in conjunction with the Kenya ports authority and NYS, undertook rehabilitation works on the port which is now functional boasting an increase of 62% activity improvement since its completion earlier this year.
Delipidation of the port and port services resulted in the grounding of Marine vessels. In his address dated 7th December 2020, President Uhuru decried the nature of service at the port. Expounding further on the issue, the President cited the misguided advice offered to him by port officials regarding the conditions of vessels in the port.
Despite being written off by port officials, the Military took over repair and rehabilitation efforts at the port, a job which the president lauded as efficient and cost-effective, Today, MV Uhuru has delivered 3.5Million liters of fuel to Uganda.
In line with the government's blue economy initiative, the national government has commenced dredging activities in the port, to accommodate bigger ships which carry more cargo.
Modern cities require modern airports to accommodate the inflow of people. In line with this, the government has already completed the tarmacking of an extra 3.3Km runway at the Kisumu airport which currently handles 500,000 arrivals per year.
The extension will help the airport facilitate the landing on bigger planes to handle more cargo and passengers.
Railways are cost-effective in handling bulk cargo such as that which goes to Kisumu's hinterland as far as eastern DRC.
The government through the Kenya army and NYS, is currently rehabilitating the exhausted meter-gauge railway from Naivasha to Nakuru reducing the transport time of cargo significantly.
Road networks in Kisumu link neighboring towns to the lake city which has critical supporting facilities such as hospitals.
To ensure fast and reliable transport the government is building a dual carriageway that links Kakamega to Kisumu.
Once completed it will decongest the city as critical factors of production such as labor can be sourced from outside the city conveniently for workers and industries.
Kisumu has witnessed a rise in luxury hotels due to its strategic location as a conference city. In the last two years Kisumu has played host to the Nation devolution forum and this week it will be host to the Kusi ideas festival.
President Uhuru Kenyatta will open the conference accompanied by Rwanda's president Paul Kagame.
