Kakamega town centre in 2018.
| Isaac Wale | Nation Media GroupKakamega
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Devolution drives people back to Kakamega countryside
What you need to know:
- The development of infrastructure has improved the local economy.
- It has also created millionaires.
- These factors have motivated those near urban centres to sell their land for a new beginning in villages.
Like a storm, the rapid urbanisation rate in Kakamega County is pushing many back to the countryside. In almost all the sub-counties, commercial buildings are coming up as devolution lays siege to once sleepy villages.
The development of infrastructure has improved the local economy and created a few millionaires, motivating those near urban centres to sell their land for a new beginning in the village.
Kakamega town centre in 2018.
At Ejinja Trading Centre, Moses Andika Wamanyasi couldn’t resist the temptation to leave his two-acre parcel – his ticket out of poverty. In the last three years, real estate firms have been scrambling for a piece of Ejinja to put up residential properties.
But the rapid growth of an otherwise quiet rural centre comes with side effects – county levies. This “inconvenience” drives people like Wamanyasi, 67, out of the municipality.
“I have decided to subdivide the land into plots and sell them off. There is too much pressure on land here,” says Mr Wamanyasi. “You can see the properties people have put in the last three years. A tiny plot of land is now selling at Sh1.5 million,” he adds.
We want to lead a quiet life in the rural areas.
Mr Wamanyasi was raised in Amalemba where his father had a home before the family moved to Ejinja.
“Our father bought four acres here (Ejinja), where we settled. He relocated his family because of the growing population in the residential estate,” offers Mr Wamanyasi, who at one time served as an aide of former Lurambi MP Athanas Keya Manyala.
“We want to lead a quiet life in the rural areas, away from the pressure that families living in urban centres go through. For them, everything depends on their income and if you don’t have the money, then you are stuck,” he says.
Although he still runs a small shop at Ejinja, Mr Wamanyasi hopes to lead a more productive life in Ishuyunzu village, Butsotso Central.
“I do not regret the decision to leave the busy trading centre. My plan is to keep some livestock and poultry and enjoy life in the village,” he offers.
