President Kenyatta divulged the finer details of the plan to a section of the lakeside town’s leaders at the Kisumu State Lodge on August 14, the last day of the National Music Festival.

Governor Jack Ranguma, Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura and his Kisumu East counterpart Shakeel Shabbir attended the meeting with Mr Kenyatta.

Lake Victoria basin leaders have been pushing for re-routing of cross-border trade through the port as well as the dry dock formerly run by Kenya Railways.

Mr Kenyatta said Kenya was banking on the ease of transporting commodities through the port to grow GDP.

The move will reduce the cost of transporting goods by road. The President said that reviving Kisumu Port will be prioritised for Kenya to grow more business with its East African Community trade partners.

The port handles mainly Uganda-bound cargo. The plan to revive the facility comes in the wake of a sugar import deal with Uganda which has caused a political storm in Kenya. As part of the Kisumu Port revival plan, the government will prioritise reopening the collapsed Kisumu Cotton Mills and Miwani Sugar Factory.

Mr Kenyatta exuded confidence in the region as a destination for business tourism.

In this regard, he announced that the next Northern Corridor Summit will be held in Kisumu. The meeting will deliberate on how to make the lakeside town a commercial hub for EAC member states.

“Kisumu will be developed into commercial headquarters of the East African Community member states,” President Kenyatta said when he addressed residents on Oginga Odinga Street after closing the two-week music festival. He said Kisumu’s location was strategic for reaching markets in Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.

“The standard gauge railway will pass through Kisumu port to ease transport of goods to Uganda and beyond; this is an opportunity that you must prepare to reap from,” said Mr Kenyatta.

Governor Jack Ranguma told the Business Daily that the meeting focused on how to instal more enablers in Kisumu to facilitate trade and transform the economy of the region. He said that they also agreed to work towards attaining a charter for Kisumu City, which will raise its status as a tourism destination.

They agreed to work on a raft of issues to be addressed by the national government which will also boost devolution in the long run, he said.

“We want the president to bring a Cabinet meeting here as he had promised. We will use the opportunity to tackle development issues that need to be jointly executed by the national and county governments,” said Mr Ranguma.

The governor said that setting up water sports and ship cruises will transform Kisumu Port and attract more tourists.

He said that they had also asked for more ships to be introduced in the lake to connect Kisumu with neighbouring countries. The leaders also plan to revive dead industries as a means of dealing with unemployment. These undertakings will eventually raise investor confidence in Kisumu, he said.