Nominated Member of Parliament (MP) Sabina Chege has revealed that she was shocked to learn that mud houses still exist in Western Province.
In an interview on Thursday, March 27, Chege said she toured the region during the Azimio-One Kenya Alliance campaigns and during the burial of the mother of National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula.
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He said the region, which is also home to Prime CS and CS for Foreign Affairs Musalia Mudavadi, still has mud structures even in market centers.
“When we went for the burial of the mother of our Speaker of National Assembly, I was shocked to find that in Bungoma County, we have a lot of mud houses, actually a shopping center, a whole shopping center that is made of mud,” Chege said.
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She explained that such houses no longer exist in Mt. Kenya since special attention was given to that region.
“In central Kenya, maybe this is something that was unheard of, or things that we have, we have managed. I think, because attention was given in this area,” she said.
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According to Chege, Mt. Kenya has managed to develop due to the presence of cash crops like tea and coffee.
She explained that her mother started training to pick tea at an early age to support the financial needs of the family.
The MP said she never received bursaries during her school days but managed to attend school with tea cheques and bonuses.
“I was brought up by tea. My mother, we would wake up in the morning, pick tea, go to school, come back home, also pick tea that we’ll keep for the night. And we worked very hard,” she said.
Sabina Chege Explains Why Mt. Kenya Has Good Houses
Further, she said people from Central Kenya built good houses and improved their living standards from these cash crops.
“The tea and the cash crops, I’ll say in central Kenya, have made the people, you know, improve their lifestyles. That is where people would get a loan even from the bank and build a decent house,” Chege explained.
However, she clarified that even people from other parts of the country work hard, but the living standards depend on the cash crop that was there before.
She said there a generation in central Kenya that is uneducated due to the fall in prices of tea and coffee at a certain point.
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Other Regions Growing Cash Crops
Besides, Chege said other parts regions have also started growing coffee, tea and avocados just like Mt. Kenya.
She said Kenyans should prioritize economic empowerment not government support to succeed.
“Economic empowerment is very important, not necessarily because the government has supported you, because I will tell you, I never knew my MP and never got CDF,” she said.
Chege said the government should prioritize areas like Western while planning for development.
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Govt to Prioritize Regions Like Western
She advised the National Treasury to allocate more funds to the Ministry of Agriculture to support such areas.
“Even when we are doing the planning of the government, even today, we need to look at those areas. If you say agriculture is the backbone of any nation, then we need to see even budgeting, we need to see things done differently,” she said.
“We need to look at our nation and actually do a map up and So what can know, what can do well in the western region, then let’s put our money there.”
Chege said central Kenya has a huge population, high demands and their voices amplified since they are the majority but that doesn’t mean that the minority cannot be heard.
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