Mr. Francis Simiyu Wekesa, BSc (Agriculture), MSc (Agricultural Resource Management) – Deputy Commissioner for Cooperative Development, State Department for Cooperatives, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives

Mr. Francis Simiyu Wekesa (53 years) is a Deputy Commissioner for Cooperative Development in the Registration and Regulation Division, State Department for Cooperatives, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives. His current duties include developing, implementing and reviewing policies, strategies and programmes on cooperative development services; preparing and validating registration and de-registration of cooperative societies’ documents, conducting inquiries and inspections into the performance of co-operatives and monitoring cooperative societies’ liquidation process. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Agricultural Resource Management and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture, both from the University of Nairobi. He has over 25 years’ experience in the Public Sector. He is a member of the Kenya Society for Agricultural Professionals (KESAP) and the Environment Institute of Kenya. Prior to the current appointment in March 2018, Mr. Wekesa was a Senior Assistant Director in the Directorate of Programmes, Projects and Strategic Initiatives in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, since October, 2017. Under this capacity, he was involved in planning, coordinating and monitoring implementation of projects within the Ministry and its parastatals to ensure impact and accountability. Previously, Mr. Wekesa had worked at the Ministry of Agriculture since 1993. Between 1993 and 2005, he was deployed as an agricultural extension officer in various districts. He was transferred to the Ministry headquarters in 2005 where he worked in various capacities including Assistant Director of Agriculture in the Work Plans and Budgets Unit, Food Security Section and Coordinator of the Crop Component of the Baringo Livelihood Recovery Support Programme.