Here’s what I brought: Governor Cheboi defends foreign trips after uproar

Baringo’s governor, Benjamin Shebue, has defended his recent international travel by claiming that he has secured benefits for the country’s citizens.

It comes after a public outcry over accusations that the county executive has focused too much on international travel since taking office, with some saying they believe he is doing them no favours.

One of them was Mr. Ezekiel Kipsoe, who protested that the governor had been turned into a tourist while the citizens back home were starving and suffering from banditry. Cattle rustling wreaked havoc in several counties, including Baringo.

Governor Baringo visited Korea from March 11 to 18 before traveling to Germany from March 27 to April 1 with President William Ruto.

The county manager claimed on Wednesday that he had the opportunity to meet friends and business partners who were keen to start projects in the area during the expeditions.

“Partnerships and connections are not just about local people. It is about us and national government institutions, development partners, friends from abroad and borders,” said Mr. Shibui.

“Last week I had the opportunity to meet friends and partners from Germany and Korea. We went to Korea with a small team from the province at the invitation of an NGO – Best Friends of the World – who worked with us in my first term,” added the governor. He claimed that the group not only invited them, but also covered their travel costs to Germany.

The governor claimed that the trip had some benefits and that he met NGO representatives with whom he spoke about coffee exports from Baringo to Korea.

“Coffee is one of our main crops and we would like to be a leading province in coffee production, not only for processing here, but also to carve out a niche in the export market. We had the opportunity to export our coffee to Korea and because it is of good quality, people have also used it to blend other types of coffee.” Mr. Cheboi said

“Through the NGO, we were also able to get support from Pastor Cha Bo Yeo, who led the construction of a Sh100 million coffee grinding plant in Baringo North. He agreed to give us Sh5 million to buy coffee seedlings for farmers.”

The governor said that this step will go a long way in increasing the production and income of coffee farmers in the area.

He noted that the delegated unit aims to plant more than 5 million coffee trees within five years, expecting the annual income to increase to more than 4 billion shillings.

“This is an opportunity to increase the circulation of money in this province, not only in local currency but also in foreign currency,” the district chief noted.