MADARAKA DAY CELEBRATIONS IN HOMA BAY COUNTY

SPEECH BY H.E. GLADYS NYASUNA WANGA, EGH

ON 01.06.2026 DURING MADARAKA DAY CELEBRATIONS

IN HOMA BAY COUNTY

Fellow citizens of Homa Bay,
Distinguished leaders,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, we gather to mark Madaraka Day, a day that reminds us of a defining moment in our history when we took responsibility for our own destiny. It was not the end of the struggle, but the beginning of responsibility, the responsibility to build, to transform, and to secure a better future for generations to come.

This year’s theme, Education, Skills and the Future, speaks directly to the task before us. It reminds us that the true measure of self-governance is not what we inherit, but what we prepare for those who come after us.

In Homa Bay County, we have made a deliberate and clear choice to invest in our people. We know that the future of this county will not be determined by chance, but by how well we educate, skill, and empower our citizens, especially our young people.

That is why we have continued to expand access to education across the county. We have constructed 604 Early Childhood Development Education classrooms in two years, through the Ondoa Kaunda Initiative across our wards, and we continue to support nearly 30,000 learners every year through bursaries and scholarships. This is because we understand a simple truth: when you educate a child, you change the trajectory of an entire community.

However, we also recognise that education must go beyond the classroom. It must translate into skills that can be applied in the real world. For this reason, we are strengthening vocational training and skills development across our institutions. We are preparing our young people not only to seek jobs, but to create them. Across our county, young people are being equipped with practical skills in construction, mechanics, ICT, and enterprise development, through our Fundi Mang’ula Scholarship program. The program has so far seen 1,200 youth turn their skills into meaningful livelihoods.

We are deliberately aligning skills development with economic opportunity. Through our agricultural programmes, we have supported over 34,000 households with farm inputs, resulting in significant increases in production and household incomes. Through enterprise support and access to county procurement opportunities, we have ensured that at least 30 percent of opportunities go to youth, women, and persons with disabilities. This is how we are putting real money in the hands of our people and making inclusion practical, not just rhetorical.

Fellow citizens, the foundation of any meaningful future lies in strong systems. In this regard, we have strengthened our financial management systems, growing our own-source revenue to over Kshs. 1.7 billion. This has enabled us to invest more in our priorities and reduce overreliance on external support.

We have also expanded and improved our road network, opening up hundreds of kilometres to connect our people to markets, schools, and health facilities. We have brought water closer to households, reducing the burden on women and improving hygiene and public health outcomes across the county.

In the health sector, we have built infrastructure and are saving lives. Through sustained investment in health systems, staffing, and maternal care, we have recorded periods with zero maternal deaths in our facilities. This is a significant milestone that reflects what is possible when leadership is focused and systems are strengthened.

Fellow residents, Madaraka is ultimately about choices. It is about whether we move forward or backward, whether we build or destroy, whether we unite or divide.

In Homa Bay County, we have chosen the path of progress. We have chosen to build systems that will outlive us. We have chosen to invest in our children and our youth. We have chosen to lay a foundation for a county that is competitive, resilient, and forward-looking.

The interventions we are witnessing today are real and visible in our communities. It is in the child learning in a new classroom. It is in the young person acquiring a skill. It is in the farmer improving production. It is in the trader accessing new opportunities. Step by step, we are moving from potential to progress.

As we celebrate this Madaraka Day, let us recommit ourselves to this journey. Let us protect what we are building, support our children, embrace skills and innovation, and remain united in purpose.

The work we have started must continue. The progress we are making must be sustained. And the future we are building together must be secured.

God bless Homa Bay County.
God bless the Republic of Kenya.

Ero Kamano.