KICOTEC: Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu has launched the first ever garment factory by a County government in Kenya.
Ms. Ngilu launched the Kitui County Textile Centre on Saturday, which is expected to employ over 600 people in Kitui County.
“Over 90 percent of garment money leaves Kitui to Nairobi, Thika, Kiambu since we lack a uniform making factory here. This factory seeks to cure this situation,” Ms. Ngilu said.
She added that KICOTEC will also grow the service industry in Kitui and that the fabric, materials and accessories needed for the factory will be sourced from the county, therefore, growing local distributors.
“With an average of 486,000 students in both primary and secondary schools, the county will increase revenue by Sh. 2 billion annually,” she said.
KICOTEC is also expected to support other services like provision of clean water, affordable healthcare and education.
She added that buying local products would mean Kitui will essentially support local businesses to grow especially the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which accounts a majority of the county’s income.