WILL KICOMI BECOME A CORNERSTONE OF KISUMU'S ECONOMY AGAIN??

As i walk in the compound of KICOMI today, from the worn out gate and a bored security man at the gate, the scene that welcomes me is that of a deserted place. 

One of the most known Cotton Mill company in Africa located along Busia way and from the look of the tarmac road, along where it is situated, transportation of cotton products to the market was easy.

KICOMI was founded in 1964 with joint investor from the Khatau group of India and the Development Finance Company of Kisumu. 

By 1970's KICOMI had emerged as the most important cotton processing plant with its main goal of cultivating locally grown cotton and process it into textiles that was sold in market locally and globally. 

It provided employment opportunities locally and in the social economic development of Kisumu. 

Why Kisumu? A city where the sun rises and sets on the shores of Lake Victoria, for that matter it had the favourable climate that did not complicate the spinning process of converting cotton into textiles. 

With more than 1800 employees by 1970's, KICOMI relied on Kisumu and it's surrounding for its labor force and provided abled-bodied labourers who in turn benefited from employment of these people. 

Production of materials such as curtains, clothes, linen and beddings resulted in huge benefit to the people of Kisumu. 

It contributed to the global market through purchasing cotton from Kisumu and transporting it globally which created jobs for people in Kisumu and grew the economy making Kisumu have a face of pride and purpose. 

In spite of the company flourishing at that time, it had challenges that started when the demand for Cotton fiber slowed due to rise in popularity of polyster. 

Polyster was more durable and cheaper to produce than cotton which put cotton reliance in Africa at a bad state and its prices started fluctuating. 

Talking to one of the employee who looks at the decrepit KICOMI billboard and says the downfall came with so many challenges and affected the locals who relied on it. 

"Competition from fabrics imported from the near East, frequent power outages, decrease in the price of cotton, insufficient amount of water to manufacture clothes and second hand clothes flooding Kenya," said Wafula. 

Contributing to the biggest downfall was the overall sense of apathy towards the Cotton industry as many government officials felt that efforts to improve local economy should be put elsewhere rather than at the Cotton sector. 

The Indian group was forced to give up the company and Moi government was forced to privatized the company. 

Many attempts were made to revive the facility and after Moi government, it was bought by a private company which later fell again. 

Its now a deserted property owned by a family who has turned it into a long distance tracking company yard. 

The question is..., is there a future for cotton to top the list of Kenya's leading cash crop as before???