City to City partneship as Nyong'o hosts Germany delegation

By Peter Ochieng

Kisumu governor Anyang' Nyong'o is back in office after several weeks away occassioned by a spinal surgery.

On Monday, the second term county chief received and held talks with a Germany delegation, led by Mayor of Gersthofen, Michael Worle who paid him a courtesy call at his office.

A statement shared by the governor's press unit says Worle is the Lakeside county to explore partnerships with Kisumu following a successful similar venture in Baringo.

Nyong’o expressed his excitement at the prospect of sharing sub national experiences with Gersthofen, which is in the State of Bavaria, Germany.

“We are looking forward to sharing experiences while tapping into German models to help Kisumu grow into an economically resilient county that provides quality livability conditions."

“In this decade of action in the implementation of United Nations agenda on Sustainable Development Goals and the world working to foster better response strategies to climate change, this journey we are embarking on wouldn’t have come at more opportune time," said the governor.

He termed the talks as the start of a journey towards "City to City partneship."

Mayor Worle on his part said it has become more necessary, more than ever before for local governments and cities to work together at their levels.

“We need to work on strategies that improve how we manage our solid waste in a more productive manner, expand water and sanitation services, improve on disaster preparedness and response and reduce carbon footprint," he said.

Nyong'o and Worle expressed desire to work together in the delivery of services around climate change, cooperation at the municipal level, water supply via provision of solar-powered pumping station and high tank for water storage to ECDE schools; sustainable green energy strategies to reduce carbon emission and strengthening Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) within Kisumu County via infrastructural support.

Other areas are capacity building and technological exchange between schools in Gersthofen and Kisumu county, investment opportunities in the areas of the Blue Economy and supporting Kisumu City to implement Smart city solutions.

The two leaders committed to validate the partnership through an actionable Memorundum of Understanding (MoU).