I will be a CS who listens - Joho on how he plans to revitalise the mining sector
He stressed the importance of engaging with stakeholders to gather valuable information and data noting that Kenya needs to attract more investment.
Mining and Blue Economy Cabinet Secretary nominee Hassan Joho has committed to adopting a collaborative approach to address the challenges facing the sector if approved.
Appearing before the Committee on Appointments on Sunday, Joho emphasised the need for leadership that prioritises listening and stakeholder engagement.
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He highlighted the sector's current underperformance, noting that it contributes less than one per cent to the country’s GDP.
“After being nominated by President Ruto, I took some time to conduct research. The mining industry contributes a little under one per cent of the GDP of the economy. We have to first of all find ways to generate confidence. If approved, I want to be a CS who listens,” he said.
He stressed the importance of engaging with stakeholders to gather valuable information and data noting that Kenya needs to attract more investment.
“I have learned that if you take time and listen to stakeholders, there is a lot of information and data that will enable you to make the right policies, and decisions, and create legal frameworks that are responsive to the demands of the moment and attractive to investment. I will listen, involve stakeholders, and do an audit of our Human Resources (HR) and technological capacities,” he said.
He also outlined his plans for a comprehensive review of the sector’s infrastructure and policies.
“I will relook our legal frameworks and policies; are they attractive to investment? If they are not, I will embark quickly to come up with policies to respond to this,” he said.
He also committed to restructuring training programs to better meet industry demands.
“This ministry is a wealth creation ministry. Today, the global demand for seafarers is almost 1.9 million. Kenya is contributing 0.2 per cent of this. We only have about 4,000 Kenyans getting into this by way of employment. We must redesign our training program to fit the demands of that opportunity. I will be running back to this on realigning the policies,” he said.
President William Ruto nominated Joho, a former Mombasa governor, as part of an accord between Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga to form the Government of National Unity.
He is one of Raila's two deputy party leaders of the ODM party alongside former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya. The politician is known to be a firebrand and straight-talking since joining politics in 2004.
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