PS John Mueke takes over at Livestock department
The government will set aside Sh250 million to aid revamp the leather sector in the next financial year.
As the country awaits Finance Cabinet Secretary Prof Njuguna Ndung’u to read the budget in June 2023, President William Ruto-led administration has allocated Sh100 million to the State Department for Livestock Development (SDL) through the supplementary budget in a bid to help restore leather industry.
Speaking during the official handing over of the State Department to the new Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke at Kilimo House, Nairobi Friday, May 19, 2023, the outgoing PS Harry Kimtai also revealed that the Livestock Department will have an additional Sh120 million for the industry.
The additional funds allocation, Mr Kimtai said, will enable the leather industry to have an immense contribution to the growth of the manufacturing sector.
Having worked at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Co-operatives in the State Department for Livestock Development since former President Uhuru Kenyatta administration, the now new Medical Services PS at the Health Ministry stated that the leather sector has demonstrated its potential strength in economic transformation.
“We realized that we can collect hides and skins, and process them as leather products. It is a huge industry that can play a great role in transforming the economy, alongside creating massive jobs within the livestock value chain,” Mr Kimtai reckoned.
For a long time, livestock hides and skins have been going to waste, the PS observing the products can be salvaged through processing and contribute a lot to the development and growth of the nation’s economy.
Before the reassignment of the new role, Mr Kimtai had introduced the ‘Linda Ngozi’ program, an initiative that is meant to revive the leather industry in Kenya.
There are state owned tanneries such as Narok and Nanyuki, the Livestock Department pledging to work with private facilities to revamp leather industry by mobilising collection of skins and hides.
The Linda Ngozi program is a public-private sector partnership initiative.
Mr Kimtai was moved to the Ministry of Health, following the recent President Ruto’s reshuffles of some PS’s and reassigning of duties.
Mr Mueke was serving as the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Arts and Sports, and he joins the Livestock Department at a time the sector is undergoing major transformations to help adopt and mitigate climate change effects.
Before the onset of the ongoing long rains, the country had experienced one of the worst droughts in 40 years.
The drought occasioned by the devastating effects of climate change, it is estimated Kenya lost about 2.5 million head of cattle worth Sh244.2 billion the casualties being pastoralist communities in regions categorized as Arid and Semi-Arid (Asal).
“Linda Ngozi is among the key pillars foundation of the government in transforming the economy, and with the newly assigned role in partnership with the strategic partners we will do what it takes to ensure the success of the program. The initiative will be prioritized and executed with utmost efficiency,” Mr Mueke promised.
Kenya is among the countries in Africa with the highest number of herds of cattle.
Revival of the leather sector is seen as one of the agendas by Dr Ruto’s regime in growing the manufacturing industry from the current 7 per cent to 15 per cent in the next five years.
In its bid to grow the livestock sector, the government is committed to ensuring the Kenya Livestock Insurance Program (KLIP) goals are achieved by partnering with private sectors.
The government is also planning to launch an insurance risk management program dubbed De-Risking, Inclusion and Value Enhancement (DRIVE) project that seeks to avert loss of livestock, targeting pastoralist communities.
The initiative will be rolled out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, through the State Department for Livestock in partnership with ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company), the Kenya Development Corporation (KDC) and the World Bank Group (WBG).
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