Development of infrastructure and continued creation of job opportunities in the counties has been cited as a major solution to rural-urban migration in Kenya
Speaking at the Sawela lodge in Naivasha on Thursday during a stakeholder’s forum dubbed ‘Devolving Development’, Education, Youth, Sports and Culture CeC Francis Mathea urged residents to stop shying away from investing in their respective Sub-Counties in the name of seeking better opportunities in major towns.
The CeC noted that rural-urban migration had been exacerbated by young people moving to cities in search of employment and getting closer access to services still centralised at former provincial headquarters.
“Nowadays, most services have been brought to your doorstep because a majority of government offices are at the grassroots, you don’t need to travel far to get assistance,” he said.
He urged young entrepreneurs to make their home counties a hub of development and attract investment rather than leaving their own resources to be tapped into by innovative entrepreneurs from other counties.
Mathea called for utilisation of available resources in Nakuru to revive the county’s economy as a way of reducing the phenomenon that he says is increasing pressure on resources in major urban centres whilst contributing to crime.
“As much as this system of administration is still in its initial stages in our country, investors have got to seize the opportunity and focus on how to stabilise these economies, improve infrastructure and create more employment opportunities that will help retain our young people here,” he explained.
According to the CeC, congestion, crime and pollution witnessed in a majority of major towns in the country is as a result of rural-urban migration, which he believes can be controlled.
Some of the major urban centres that have for long experienced a continuous influx of people are Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret; a situation that he says will be managed as counties grow.