RACHUONYO LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT FORUM:

THE SAMMARY REPORT

  INTRODUCTION:
On the Saturday 7th April 2007 youths, leaders, professionals and the royal commoners from Rachuonyo District gathered at the Nyadendis Hotel in Oyugis. They discussed the need to transform what have been no more than a back-room village dwelling in nights of silent mysteries into a formidable debating community.

From millions of men in Rachuonyo District a good number of them stepped forward with a podiatric force to form granite principles from wavering idea-region of broad masses to take the struggle for their sole correctness. They have resolved to ensure that from a shifting wave of a free thought society there shall a rise a brazen cliff of solid unity in faith and in deeds. It sprouted in their mind a development shrewdness that enabled them to see with amazing clarity the strengths and the weaknesses of a contemporary Rachuuonyo. They resolved that the main objective is therefore to transform our community into a marvellous example of an empire that will rise from the foundation of pure strategic development policies and informed leadership that will definitely enable her people to determine the form of life in Kasipul and Karachuonyo for the next thousands of years. In this godless-World of sceptism and desperations the protective providence places Jorachuonyo duto over and above the new forces on the land. Yes.... Rachuonyo ma woud Jok the royal breed of the entire Luo Community from Sudan to the middle East .

The people of Rachuonyo agreed that the celebrated shrine of Rachuonyo should be embraced and be provoked to permeate the generation of today and liberate them from selfishness and political strife and bring the people of Rachuonyo together in socio- economic and cultural self consciousness to nurture a blessed, free, and proud, peaceful Rachuonyo united in herself. That we must consolidate freedom and cultivate peace within our area even if we are faced by difficult socio-economic and political situations.

  TERMS OF REFERENCE

  THEME:
Consolidating and Cultivating Unity in Diversity, Embracing Leadership and Professional values, Forging Partnership with Members of the Community and Development Partners to Promote Knowledge Based Interventions to Inform, Plan and Catalyze Rural Development in Rachounyo District.

  DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
Rachuonyo District of Nyanza province covers an area of 931 square km with four divisions (Kabondo-140 square km, Kasipul-368 square km, W.Karachuonyo-174 square km, E. Karachuonyo-249 square km.) Its human population is projected to reach 0.4million by 2008.While 71% of this population live below poverty (1US dollars a day). It also has high HIV/AIDS prevalence (19%) and very low (<5%) access to clean and safe water in spite of its proximity to the lake. It also has high mortality rates and high school dropout rates with 20% dropout in primary, 60% in secondary and only 1 out of 1000 join university.Rachuonyo also have low crop yield per acre in spite of its fatality (land size per household is 5 acres and 60% of land in Rachuonyo is under crop land mainly food crop, only 20% of that land is used for grazing.) Less than (10%) of cattle are grade hence the area suffers from severe milk deficit as it can only meet less than 40% of its annual demand. The population growth rate is 2.1%, crude death rate is 12.62/1000, life expectancy is 46.5years, infant mortality rate is 87/1000, under five years mortality rate is 1002/1000, Those between 1-18 form the 34.39% of the population while between 18-40 is 40%, those between 40- 80 form 15%, while those above 80 years are only 0.61%.Only 13.89% of the youths are employed the rest are either unemployed or under employed.

  TOPICAL ISSUES DISCUSSED

• Education in Rachuonyo and how to invest in Intellectualism.
• Rising cases of HIV/AIDS orphans and related complications.
• Health facilities and home/ community base healthcare in the District.
• Security and legal issues
• Agriculture and food security.
• Impoverished infrastructure.
• High unemployment rate.
• High exploitation of environment.
• Water problem in some parts of the District.
• Leadership local, National and International
• Information, Communication and Technology (IT)

  RESOURCE PERSONS
A team of professionals, royal members of the community and the development partners who attended the function gave very encouraging speeches. Each one of them expressed more than his/her own pain, they named the need of the whole generation searching into the confused longing of men and women from Education, Healthcare,Agriclture,communication,security to common domestic violence as listed above. The youths however, remained otherwise honest in their volcanic gentlemen eruptions of human passions and emotional sentiments that seemed stirred either by cruel goddess of distress or by firebrand of words hurled among the masses, not the lemonade-like out pouring of literary aesthetes neither from a drawing board tactics based on the precise calculations of human weaknesses and errors.

  The Problem Paper
The problem paper was presented by Mr.Baldawin Oluoch a student at the Catholic university of East Africa. In response the flamboyance Prof. Richard Otieno Muga gave a talk on issues related to community healthcare and Education, while the highly trained Eng. James Gordon Rege fluently talked on Information, Communication and Technology and how it affect the development in the community. A senior scientist Prof. Peter Odada Sumba responded with great oratorio on ecological effect on Agricultural production. He told the audience that for along period he has been at loggerhead with polythene bags. Renown and a charismatic barrister of the high court Lawyer Samwel Onyango Ochillo based his response on the legal matters and security and its effect on the development.Dr.Gaurald Raphael Otieno Kopiyo gave an eloquent speech on political leadership and its effect to the development. Finally his worship the Mayor of the Oyugis Town Sir Shem Matibe Nyakoyo majored on the issues bordering closely on the unemployment and how the Provincial Administration affects the development of the community. There were more and more responses and reactions from the people present and can not all be herein contained. Everybody received his/her dues the audiences most of all.

  RESOLUTIONS

• The Rachuonyo Leadership and Development Forum shall be a community Assembly where all members of the community and their development partners shall gather to exchange views and policy on development matters
• The Rachuonyo Leadership and Development Forum shall be held as a seminar/conference/workshop at least once in every four months to enable youths, leaders, professionals and other stake holder to meet and discuss matters pertaining to Leadership and Development in the community and that the months of April, August and December were recommended as the most appropriate months for such Consortium.
• The people of Rachuonyo both Locally and Internationally should develop and apply a systematic approaches and have a well co-coordinated network through a thoroughly documented strategic plan and policy papers on Leadership and development to bring back the development in the community
• The political process should not make us act like enemies against our fellow brothers and sisters, but should just help us to realize the trains of thought wisely and carefully and the stream of politics must be guided into a safe channel of issues affecting the community and the society at large.
• The people of Rachuonyo will always value their land and people regardless of their status in the society and will form partnership with all members of the community to promote socio-economic, cultural and political development.
• The Rachuonyo Leadership and Development Forum shall act as a coordinating agent of the development in the community and shall act as a reference body to NGOs, CBOs and other development agents in Rachuonyo.

  CONCLUSION
In solidarity with those who sent their apologies that include Dr.Kenneth Kambona, Mr. Justus Nyangaya, Mr. Nashon Nguena, Mr. Nelson Otieno Aloyce, Mr. John Oywa, Mr.Charles Jabuya, Mr. Sam Rateng Kotiende, Mr. Kodhek Odak.Mr. Charles Bugo and others whose names were read during the meeting. The Forum concluded that the only thing left for the people of Rachuonyo is to devote what strength and power they have in forwarding the victory of the course for which they have all sacrificed so much. Hoping that they may all live to see this generation handing over a glorious development manifesto to the new generation.

Our pride as the royal people of Rachuonyo is however, based on the fact that, we the people of Rachuonyo are all for this common course and vision. We are now fully armed with honesty, conviction and the will to achieve our mission and goals. We shall therefore pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, and oppose any foe for the success of this noble course. The energy, the faith and devotion that our people of Rachuonyo have and will continue to offer to this endeavour will light the Rachuonyo community and those who serve it and the glow from that fire will truly light the entire Luo society and the whole country-Kenya.

The report has been Compiled By :

Jamumbo Maurice Aguko Mayora Ojako
The Coordinating Secretary
Rachuonyo Leadership and Development Forum
Tel: +254722501905
Email:jamoko2005 At yAhoO DOT coM