Kakamega governor Fernandes Barasa has said that his county government is looking to make improvements to the recently launched Kakamega airstrip.
Barasa who spoke to KBC on Thursday said the county government is in talks with people who own land close to the airstrip so that it can be able to generate a path that will lead to the expansion of the existing airstrip.
“The bigger approach in which we were tasked by the President is to have an expansion programme. We’re now having a conversation with the neighboring landowners to acquire almost a hundred acres of land so that we can have a proper airport there. That is a commitment which we provided,” Barasa said.
The governor said he has engaged the necessary stakeholders in the aviation industry like the Kenya Aviation Authority (KAA) to ensure that the expansion goal goes through without any hitches.
“The runway is now big enough, almost 2.4 kilometers where we can have the likes of JamboJet landing there. I had a conversation with KAA so that they can actually approve more airlines using that facility,” he said.
Barasa added that the expansion target is in line with Kenya’s bid to be granted rights to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
“Kenya is bidding to host the Africa Cup of Nations. We want Bukhungu stadium to be one of the venues for hosting the Africa Cup of Nations and that can only make sense if we have an airport and not an airstrip,” Barasa said.