ELGEYO Marakwet county’s second biggest town Kapsowar’s expansion has been sluggish despite its importance as a host to several key public offices. The expansion of the town which is second to Iten in size within that county, has been hampered by poor planning and infrastructure. Some of the important institutions that have offices in the town include Kapsowar mission hospital, a medical college and various national government’s ministry offices. The town was the headquarters of the defunct Marakwet County Council and Marakwet district before it was split into Marakwet East and West. Despite the sluggish growth of the town, key investments have been established to boost trade. Banks such as Kenya Commercial Bank and Equity have recently opened new branches in the town. Micro finance institutions including Kenya Women Finance Trust, Juhudi Kilimo and Marakwet teachers sacco have also set up in Kapsowar. Another upcoming commercial property has been proposed by Utumishi Sacco, formed by pastors in Elgeyo Marakwet. Kapsowar business community chairman Johnstone Cheptoo says the town has a single avenue and four streets, but plans to construct two back streets have stalled due to poor designs and inadequate funding. According to the business community, the poor planning in the town has discouraged real estate investors from developing more decent housing units. Last November, Deputy President William Ruto during a ceremony for commissioning the construction of Kapsowar-Chebiemit road pledged to have all major roads linking institutions and government offices in the town tarmacked. Ruto said the town had been ignored for a long time, yet it is the region’s biggest trading centre. The planned move to improve the roads, has seen investors scale up investments in the town. “Improved infrastructure will attract more investments and encourage existing investors to increase their current investments,” an investor who recently established a hardware shop said. The Asian trader who declined to be named said the town is a good business destination for different investments. Adams Mutai, the branch manger of Juhudi Kilimo, a micro-finance institution which offers loans to rural smallholder farmers said the town lacks adequate decent housing to cater for its growing middle class population and increasing number of investors. The increase in investments have driven demand for residential properties in the town.[credit:stephen rutto]
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 04:26:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015