Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong'o has appealed to the media to tell devolution stories by documenting its success.
"Devolution has been a success despite the many challenges and the media should tell these success stories," Nyong'o said.
He said counties have successfully changed the development narrative since 2013.
The governor spoke in his office when Radio Africa Group head of content Paul Ilado paid him a courtesy call.
Ilado said Radio Africa Group will continue playing its role as a media house while at the same time observing professionalism.
On youth empowerment in the county, the governor said they are establishing model business and incubation centres to assist them to access jobs.
According to Nyong'o, the centres will be used for innovation and tapping youth's talent.
Some Sh350 million has been set aside for the construction of an innovation and incubation centre at Rotary Vocational Training Centre. The facility is 90 per cent complete.
The governor said the key to the joblessness gridlock is intense training of the youth to equip them with relevant skills.
His county works closely with industries through incubation and innovation centres to link graduates with the job market.
Two weeks ago, the county government launched the refurbished Kisumu social hall and renamed it Grace Onyango hall after Kenya's first female MP.
The new-look facility has an auditorium and theatre, community meeting rooms, club rooms for indoor games, social services offices, a unit for people living with disabilities, children's park, ablution blocks and a cafeteria.
Built in 1959, the facility is historic and sentimental to not only the people of Kisumu but also to artists, musicians and sports personalities.
In May last year, the governor approved the Rural Roads Maintenance Policy 2018 under which hundreds of residents will be recruited to maintain rural roads.
This will ensure that residents are part of service delivery, besides the creation of jobs and the reduction of maintenance costs.
Nyong'o said dependence on hired contractors delayed routine maintenance due to lack of funds, uncoordinated road prioritisation processes or insufficient technical knowledge.
“This often leads to postponement of maintenance, necessitating more costly rehabilitation," he said.
Supervisors will be trained at the Kenya Institute of Highways and Building Technology to strengthen the quality of services.
Kisumu has a tertiary rural road network of about 2,500km, 956km of which are crucial trade link roads. Only half of the entire length is constructed to engineering standards.
- mwaniki fm