The prosed construction of Kisumu port will be completed by the year 2018 as the country eyes bigger maritime trade in the East African region.
Kisumu County Governor Jack Ranguma has said the project to be implemented by Kenya Ports Authority will develop Kisumu port into a modern commercial Lake Port.
Ranguma said the port will create job opportunities for young people and promote an enabling environment for the expansion of businesses in Kisumu.
“When the contractor moves on site, our youths will surely get jobs. It is in the constitution that we will retain 30 percent of the job opportunities as the contactor source for skilled labour elsewhere,” he said.
Speaking to the press in Kisumu on Tuesday, the Governor said the location of the city enables it to offer trade engagements with the neighboring countries.
Ranguma noted that his government negotiated for the project after Kisumu was initially cut off by the Standard Gauge Railways.
“Kisumu had been cut off by the SGR and it took my intervention to lobby the railways to pass through Kisumu. It is a big achievement for our people,” he said.
He said that the plans to construct the new port and extension of SGR line being built from Mombasa is expected to boost economic activities in Kisumu and other satellite towns.