Some of Kenya’s counties have potential to start industrial clusters. Take the county of Bungoma

•          Bungoma is 3,032.2 square kilometers. This area holds about 1375063 people of which 48% are male and 52% women with a very high age dependency ratio of 93.8.

•          The county is agricultural with the mainstay being maize and sugar cane although potential for other crops including oil crops can be said to be largely virgin.  If maize is harvested only once a year (with relatively low returns especially for small scale farmers) then sugar cane takes 18 months to mature with payment hiccups. Zero grazing is slowly but steadily picking up.  Our casual research shows that to be profitable maize farming must be done on a minimum of 10 acres. Bungoma's population growth rate currently standing at 4.3% has led to land subdivisions with the average landholding being less than half of 10 acres. This may partially explain why 53 % of Bungoma’s population lives below poverty line.

KENYA: A GUIDE TO COUNTY STRATEGIC PLANNING

What is Strategic Planning?

Everybody who was running for a position in Kenya’s just concluded elections had a plan i.e. a look into the future and the goal was to win. Every one of them planned regardless of the level of planning because consciously or unconsciously every one knew that if they failed to plan they would be planning to fail.  In order for them to succeed, each laid down a roadmap for success. The map helped to provide direction and focus for the entire campaign team. Specific results to be achieved e.g. number of votes to get in order to win were estimated and a course of action to achieve these winning votes was established. This roadmap helped the various campaign teams and sub teams to align themselves with common goals including:

·                   Building a competitive advantage

·                   Communicating the manifesto to the populace

·                   Prioritizing  campaign  financial needs

·                   Providing  focus and direction to move from plan to action

Those who ended up winning must have had a better roadmap than those who failed although in any given contest there eventually must be a winner and losers.

KENYAN COUNTIES NEED INCLUSIVE GROWTH POLICIES

Statistics show that Kenya is one of the more developed countries of East Africa and has greater growth potential in the region. As figure 1 below shows except for the period 2007-2008, the country has recorded a GDP growth trajectory in recent times.

KENYA: EVERY COUNTY NEEDS A SWOT-PROPELLED STRATEGIC PLAN.

MARCH 4, 2013 in earnest put in place Kenya’s devolution when county governors were elected to run affairs of the counties. Indeed some counties had already put in place “strategic frameworks” designed to guide county priorities. My casual observations reveal that around the country, citizens in a number of counties are demanding from their county officials to deliver ASAP.

Let us agree - the market conditions that counties are facing as they embark on their development paths have been and are in a constant state of flux which forces governors and their teams to come up with relevant and appropriate projects to lay the foundations of their county development pillars. In order to determine how they can best meet their objectives and carry out their missions, county governors must engage in comprehensive strategic planning.