By Enock Okong’o
The residents of South Mugirango Constituency in Kisii County have accused the National Government and Kisii University management for the stalled buildings in Kisii University’s Nyamgweta campus.
Led by Dr. Kefah Ombacho, the residents wondered why the campus that was started 15 years ago had not been completed.
They asked the Kisii University Vice Chancellor Prof. John Akama to explain why the construction of buildings stalled at the campus.
“Prof. Akama promised that the University had opened a branch here but this has turned into a white elephant,” remarked Dr. Ombacho.
The residents accused the Kisii County Government for alleged felling trees and clearing the site for a project that could not take off.
“They destroyed the trees with the excuse of constructing a sugar factory but it has never been built there then they came with the University Project that has again stalled,” lamented the residents.
Since then, the establishment of the three projects; conservation of the forest, the university campus and sugar factory has caused mixed reactions from the residents.
Those against the construction of both the university campus and the sugar factory argue that the clearance of the forest will deprive them the effort to conserve the forest and its use for education, health and research purposes.
According to Kisii County Governor James Ongwae, the factory will sort the unemployment issue in the area as it will absorb 10,0000 workers from the region.
“The factory will take our young skilled graduates from university together with the unskilled ones to solve the teething unemployment in the country,” he said.
According to the Lands and Settlement Executive Secretary in Kisii County Mr. Moses Onderi, Nyangweta occupies s total 255 hectares of forest cover in Kisii County.
Out of these, 50 hectares have been slated for the construction of the University while 86 will be used for the construction of a sugar factory.
