Podcast Claims Kakamega’s Flagship Agriculture Projects Have Collapsed, as Malala Camp Pledges Revival
KAKAMEGA – A new edition of the BongaNaCleo podcast, billed as the “State of the County: Agriculture” edition, has accused successive county administrations of failing farmers.
It says the flagship projects launched under former Governor Wycliffe Oparanya have collapsed or are close to it. The podcast is linked to the campaign of Cleophas Malala, who is eyeing the governor’s seat.
The programmes the podcast lists as failing are the One Cow initiative, the Tumbeni milk factory, the maize seed and fertiliser programme, the Shinyalu tea factory, the fish programme, county smart farms, the tractor programme, subsidised AI services, and the banana and poultry value chains. It says all of them are “in the sick bay.”
According to the podcast, the projects were meant to drive Kakamega’s rural economy, create jobs, secure food supplies and raise incomes.
It argues the promise of quality, affordable fertiliser has instead brought expensive, substandard inputs, some of which it alleges were stolen before reaching farmers. The podcast offered no documents or investigation findings to support these claims in the material provided.
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The hosts also directed criticism at Governor Fernandes Barasa’s administration. They accused the governor of letting down farmers and questioned his choice of Agriculture County Executive Committee Member, whom they said spends too little time engaging farmers.
They also made allegations of personal misconduct against the official. These are the hosts’ opinions and allegations, and the official has not publicly responded to them.
The county government paints a different picture. Official statements say Kakamega has put more than KES 3 billion into subsidised farm inputs since 2015.
They say maize output rose from 1.9 million bags in 2013 to 2.8 million bags in 2022. The county says it spent KES 713 million on inputs in one financial year, and that the governor told administrators to report anyone abusing the subsidy.
The administration has also rejected claims of fake fertiliser. Barasa dismissed the allegations as false and spread by his detractors, while a Lugari MCA said healthy maize crops had vindicated the county.
More recently, the governor has distributed free fertiliser and seed to low-income families, women, widows and persons with disabilities in Butere. The county also says an organic fertiliser plant at Matawa is now operational.
The podcast ended with a campaign pledge. It promised that within ten months a new administration would “restore and pump more money” into agriculture.
It said agribusiness would be made a driver of the county’s economy, creating jobs for young people and moving Kakamega “from the list of shame of food insecurity to surplus production.” No budget figures or implementation details were given.
The exchange shows how central agriculture will be to the 2027 governorship race in a county often called the country’s food basket. Independent verification of the status of each project, such as audit reports or county assembly findings, would help farmers weigh the competing claims.
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