THE COUNTY OF SHAME: VIHIGA COUNTY (Part one)

Vihiga County borders Kakamega County to the north, Nandi County to the East, Kisumu County to the south and Siaya County to the west. The county boasts of having a population of approximately 554,622 people on an area of 530.9km^2. The percentage population is 47% males and 53% females which contribute to 1.44% of national population. The annual population growth rate of the county stands at 5.3%. The population density is 1,045 people per km². The proposed county capital will be Mbale.

       The county lies in the rain rich region of western Kenya with an average annual rainfall of  between 1,800mm-2000mm. and an average temperature of 24⁰C making it a fertile ground for cash crops such as tea and coffee. Coffee died and was buried in the early 1990s leaving tea; a predominant cash crop. The county could also do well in the plantation of maize, beans and vegetables among others. She has a tea processing factory at Mudete along Chavakali-Kapsabet road. Talking of Chavakali-Kapsabet road, the county has a road network composed of Bitumen surface (135km), gravel surface 212.5km) and earth surface (315km). Thanks to the tea factory, the accessibility of the county has grown rapidly. With such a surging population and opening up of the road network, though rudimentary, one would expect a budding economy.

       To top things up; the county has 4 commercial banks and one Micro-Finance Institution (MFI). These are geared to foster economic sustainability and boost investments. The county seems to be doing pretty well though. She has all the tools of economic development and with the advent of the county governments, one expects a boom in the development given that the county’s population is quite well and growing in a manner to suggest that local consumption would bolster economic development majorly.

       Education wise the county has 396 primary schools with an annual enrolment of 180,112 pupils. She has 117 secondary schools with an annual enrolment of 36,413 students. The county has one university at Kaimosi, several teachers training colleges: one at Eregi and another at Kaimosi. There is a theological college at Kaimosi for the Friends Church and Nyang’ori Bible college for the Pentecostal Assemblies of God Church (P.A.G). There are various Village polytechnics i.e. Kaimosi Village polytechnic, which I do not know if it is functional; Mago polytechnic, established in early 2000; Lotego Youth polytechnic, still not well equipped, Mbale Youth polytechnic, Hamisi Youth polytechnic and Keveye youth polytechnic among others. The number of students who make it to tertiary institutions is more than ten. There are about 72 adult literacy centres of which 20 are active with 5 full time teachers who are paid by the government (the number of teachers apply for Sabatia only where I was privy to one of the teachers) an additional 8 teachers are on part time and are paid an honorarium of Kshs. 2000(these payments are not regular hence killing motivation) . The number of teachers and how they are paid has killed the zeal to perform. This has rendered adult literacy classes less effective hence their effects are minimally felt in enlightening the older members of the society.

       On matters health, the county has a district hospital at Vihiga. She has no sub-district hospitals, 30 dispensaries, 22 health centres, 19 medical clinics, 2 nursing homes and one specialist hospital; the Sabatia Eye Hospital. Infant mortality rate stands at 120/1,000 and the doctor to patient ratio is 1:50,000 roughly; the county has 11 doctors. Prevalent diseases are; Malaria, respiratory tract infections and pneumonia. In the quest to fight malaria, several Non-Governmental Organisations have been distributing mosquito nets to the over 123,347 households. A number of the nets have been used to fence vegetable gardens.

       Politically, the county has varying political ideas. In 1992, the county voted for KANU with Emuhaya voting for FORD-Asili. 1992 recorded an all time highest voter turnout of 62%. The number of local authorities as of 2010 was 3: Vihiga Municipal council, Vihiga County Council, and Luanda County council. The county contributes to 1.2% of the national vote. The county has approximately 198,529 registered voters in 327 polling stations. The number is subject to change due to the ongoing voter registration exercise that began on 19 November 2012 and ends on 18 December, 2012. Currently, the county has fielded 1 presidential candidate; Musalia Mudavadi, who is to participate in a run-off with Uhuru Kenyatta to choose the March 4^th 2013 general election’s presidential candidate of the Jubilee Coalition. The run-off will be on Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at a delegates’ conference to be held in Nairobi. The county has three gubernatorial contenders, no senatorial contender, one women representative, several youth representatives and no county representatives. 

       Does the county have any tourist attraction sites? There is the Maragoli Hills Forest which of course is remaining bare due to the rampant and uncontrolled deforestation, there are the Mungoma caves, the home of the founding father of the Maragoli and ecotourism and bird watching. The county has also lovely spots to view the sunset and sundown. The Vihiga cultural festival can also offer a sufficient delicacy for the eye. The festival is held on the 26^th of December every year. The county has Sosa Cottage Hotel at Gisambai market and The Ambwere Alliance Hotels at Chavakali for accommodation and nice Maragoli and exotic dishes. More tourist attraction sites include the Wagevere rocks embossed with footprints in Matsigulu near Kivagala.

……………….To be continued>>>>>>>>>>>