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President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday made impromptu visits to Kisumu and Mbita where he inspected various ongoing projects by the national government.
The President was at the Kisumu Port for close to three hours before flying off on a Kenya Airforce helicopter to inspect the new Mbita bridge currently under construction in Homabay County.
While at the Kisumu Port, the president toured the Kisumu Shipyard and inspected the ongoing construction of MV Uhuru II wagon ferry, dry dock and slipway. The ferry is being built from scratch.
Kenya is eyeing the lucrative shipbuilding and repair business after the completion of the modern Kisumu and Mombasa shipyard facilities. The two built by the Kenya Navy are the largest shipyards with a slipway in East Africa.
According to a statement from State House, the president had “day-long impromptu working visits of Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD), Kisumu Shipyard and the new Mbita Bridge.”
“At the ICD, the President witnessed the trans-shipment of container cargo from the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to the Meter Gauge Railway (MGR) and took a train ride from Naivasha to Longonot,” the statement read in part.
The shipbuilding project in Kisumu was mooted following the handshake between Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga that has seen the Nyanza region benefit from mega infrastructure projects including the rehabilitation of the Kisumu port and the railway line from Naivasha to Kisumu.
President Kenyatta was accompanied by Chief of Defence Forces General Robert Kibochi.
