Education Department

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

Co
3 years of changing lives
village by village

5 Agriculture

COUNTY GOVERNMENT
OF KIRINYAGA
www.kirinyaga.go.ke

County Government of Kirinyaga

Photography
David Mwangi
Barzi Media

7
Healthy County

Creative Design
Barzi Media

Bidii Yetu 2016

Investing
in Trade,
Tourism

ontents

Clean,reliable
Natural Resources

Imparting
knowledge

14
Infrastructural
Growth

16

18

Finance
and ICT

From the Governors Desk

3 Years of Changing

Lives in Kirinyaga
For the first time in our Countrys history, leadership
and resources are dedicated to each of our villages and
communities for development

ts been three years since the first

Devolved Governments were elected
following the promulgation of a new
Constitution in Kenya. To my County
Government of Kirinyaga, it has been three
years of a transformative agenda where we
continue changing our peoples lives, village
by village. As our motto says, the source of
our pride is in our efforts Bidii yetu, utajiri
wetu.
These last three years have seen for the first
time in our countrys history, leadership
and resources going to each of our villages
and communities for development. In the
next few pages, I have captured the success
stories in our county to mark three years of
changing lives for our people. Welcome and
enjoy the fruits of devolution.

H.E Hon. Joseph K. Ndathi

Kirinyaga County Governor

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

County Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Veterinary & Fisheries

Agriculture;
our backbone,
our priority
A

griculture remains the backbone of Our

Countys economy with about 80 per cent of
our people deriving their livelihoods directly
from agricultural based activities. As a direct result
of our intervention in terms of offering extension
services, our farmers in all the sectors have seen
tremendous growth. The agricultural sector has
initiated the following;
1. We have supported Agriculture extension,
advisory and technology Transfer Services;
2. We have initiated food security programs;
3. We have developed crop specific development
programme using the value chain approach;
4. We have intensified training and dissemination
of appropriate technologies;
5. We have collaged and disseminated
information on the domestic and export
markets for dissemination to producers,
exporters and service providers.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

County Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Veterinary & Fisheries

Some of the complete projects in agriculture are listed below

WARD

PROJECT

COST

Kabare

Arabicum flowers

250,000

Mwea E & A

Hybrid Maize seeds

900,000

Mwea E

Gadam sorghum

250,000

Kirinyaga

Quality seeds

1,700,000

Mwea E & A

Vaccination

2,000,000

Kanyekiini

Grain storage

4,800,000

Kariti

Micro-irrigation

4,800,000

Mutithi

Micro-irrigation

4,800,000

Njukiini

Banana shed

3,300,000

Kanyekiini

Banana shed

2,700,000

Kariti

Milk cooling tank

1,100,000

Kiine

Milk cooling tank

730,000

Kariti

Milk cooling tank

730,000

Mutira

Tissue culture bananas

970,000

Kiine

Coffee seedlings

480,000

Thiba

Cattle dips

679,000

Kerugoya

Tea buying centre

970,000

Kariti

Quality maize seeds

1,164,000

Thiba

Cattle dip rehabilitation

448,400

Baragwi

Sorothimu irrigation project

2,910,000

Inoi

Tea buying centers

1,500,000

Karumandi

Tea buying centre

300,000

Kerugoya

Tea buying centers

465,000

Mukure

Kimathi cattle dip

223,504

Mutithi

Kaminji water project

291,000

Nyangati

Kirimara water project

2,200,000

Inoi

Tissue culture bananas

300,000

Inoi

Macadamia organic seedlings

300,000

Kabare

Heifers & Fish

600,000

Kanyekiine

Water storage tanks

6,790,000

Kariti

Purchase of fodder

291,000

Kariti

Assorted planting materials

1,164,000

Kariti

Supply of chicks

291,000

Karumandi

Assorted seedlings

800,000

Kiine

Milking cows

656,690

Kiine

Coffee & Macadamia seedlings

656,690

Mukure

Subsidized bean seeds

328,345

Mutira

Hybrid heifers

900,000

Mutira

Macadamia seedlings

600,000

Ngariama

Banana seedlings

970,000

Ngariama

Dairy goats

985,035

Thiba

Banana seedlings

500,000

Thiba

Fish feeds

80,140

Njukiini

Maize seeds

1,313,380

80%
Of our people derive their
livelihoods directly from

Agricultural
based activities.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

County Ministry of Medical Services & Public Health

Towards a
Healthy County

he County Government takes the health

of the people very seriously hence the
heavy investment in human resources
and infrastructure. We have employed 476 new
Health workers including nurses, clinical officers,
medical laboratory technologists, pharmaceutical
technologists, physiotherapists among other
cadres. We have more than 98 development
projects both complete and ongoing. These
projects include construction of new dispensaries,
upgrading existing health facilities, construction
of laboratories, morgues, radiology departments,
purchase of ambulances and equipping of health
facilities among others. Notable Completed

Infrastructural Projects:
1) Completion of Gathuthuma Dispensary
(Functional)
2) Completion of Nguguini Dispensary (Functional)
3) Completion of Kiamuthambi Dispensary
(Functional)
4) Completion of Kiarukungu Dispensary
(Functional)
5) Completion of South Ngariama Dispensary
(Functional)
6) Completion of Kamuiru Dispensary.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

County Ministry of Medical Services & Public Health

employed

7) Completion of Kiaga Dispensary.

8) Expansion of maternity at Mutithi Health Center
(Functional)
9) Construction of a laboratory at Kirogo Dispensary
(Functional)
10) Construction of a laboratory at Karimaini Dispensary
(Functional)

476
new Health
wo r ke r s

Ongoing Infrastructural projects

1) Construction of 9 new dispensaries in underserved areas.
2) Construction of X-ray Department at Kianyaga Hospital
3) Construction of Morgue at Sagana Hospital
4) Construction of Modern Maternity Block at Kimbimbi
Hospital
5) Construction of X-ray Department at Sagana Hospital
6) Construction of Maternity/MCH Block at Kianyaga
Hospital
7) Construction of Inpatient wards at Baricho and Njegas
Health Centers.
Indicator

2013

2014

2015

Doctor:

1:21,652

1:18,452

1:13,518

Nurse: Population
Ratio

1:1383

1:1246

1:1226

Immunizing Centers

56

69

66

Fully Immunized
Children

87%

85.2%

88.5%

ANC attendance

92.4/48

96.4/60

Skilled Delivery

73 %

92.5 %

92.5 %

Hospital
Beds/100,000

75

79

82

Population Ratio

Health equipment and machinery

Purchase of Assorted Medical Equipment for 18

health facilities.

Four ambulances to supplement the 5 existing

ambulances.

Stand by Generators,

Oxygen plants,

Morgue Coolers are machinery to be procured this

financial year.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

County Ministry of Trade, Co-operatives, Industrialization & Enterprise Development

The department has seen the rehabilitation and

construction of key markets among them Kerugoya,
Kagumo, Kiangai and Kagio thus improving the
commodity trade in the county.

Investing in
Trade, Tourism
T

he County Ministry of Trade, has been on the

forefront to promote a vibrant co-operative
movement, trade, tourism and industrial
sub-sector by creating an enabling environment
through policy, legal and institutional framework
for sustainable socio- economic development in
the County. It is also charged with the mandate of
promoting and attracting investments in the county.
It has participated in many trade expos key among
them the Kenya International Investors Conference
(KICCO) at KICC on 19th to 20th November 2014
where it show-cased over sixty (60) investment
opportunities in the county ranging from Agro
processing, Tourism, infrastructure development,
medical and cultural and Educational opportunities.
The department has seen the rehabilitation and
construction of key markets among them Kerugoya,
Kagumo, Kiangai and Kagio thus improving the
commodity trade in the county.

Cable Cars on Mt Kenya

We have packaged this project as an investment

opportunity and we are seeking investors in the
same and potential investors have already expressed
interest.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

County Ministry of Trade, Co-operatives, Industrialization & Enterprise Development

Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE)

The County Government has collaborated with KIE
to allocate the industrial incubation centre sheds at
Kiangwacii (Kariti Ward) to investors willing to put
up industries at the site So far the following have
been allocated sheds at the centre
a. Kirinyaga Horticultural Cooperative society limited
dealing in Tomato Value addition.
b. African pambo products dealing in textiles
c. Pana Products. Dealing in Chutney and Mango
pulp.

Tomato Value addition

The machinery for Tomato processing for Kirinyaga
Horticultural Farmers was delivered by KIRDI to the
incubation centre at Sagana. This will be followed by
installation and commissioning.

Milk value addition.

In an effort to promote milk value addition, we
procured, installed and commissioned a milk

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pasteurizer with a capacity of 500 litres and a deep

freezer for Kirinyaga Dairy cooperative society at
Ksh 965,000.00 in 2014/15

Rice value addition

We are working closely with Mwea Rice growers
Multipurpose Cooperative society so that our
farmers in Mwea earn addition income from
rice products. We have held meetings with KIE
to explore areas that have high potential for
additional income. One project is the making of Rice
Briquettes (Charcoal) made from rice husks. We are
supporting this project with Ksh. 1.5 million. Other
MRGM projects in the pipeline include an animal
feeds factory and a Bakery using rice as the main
ingredient.

Coffee Value Addition

We are encouraging and offering technical support
to coffee cooperative societies to add value their
produce for maximum benefits. Mutira CFS and
Rungeto CFS are leading in this initiative.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

County Ministry of Education & Public Service

Imparting
knowledge
A child at a time

The Education functions Devolved under Schedule

Four of the Constitution Includes: Pre-primary education
Village polytechnics
Home craft centers
Childcare facilities To be able to undertake the
devolved aforementioned functions, the County
Ministry/Department of Education was structured
into two Directorates, namely:-

1) Directorate of ECDE (Early Childhood

Development and Education), which takes care of
the functions of Pre-Primary education as well as
Children facilities (Day Care Centres) above.
2) Directorate of Vocational Education and
Training (DVET)
Under which all the Devolved polytechnics fall. The
Function of Home Craft Centers is also managed
under this directorate.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

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County Ministry of Education & Public Service

Under the Pre-primary Sub-sector (ECDE), we have achieved the

following;
i) Recruited 403 Care-givers (ECDE-Teachers)
ii) Increased levels of enrollments in public ECDE
centers from 10,000 pupils to 15,824 pupils
iii) Increased ECDE Centers to 198
iv) Construction of Exhaustible toilets in 67 ECDE
Centers.
v) Provision of Teaching Learning resources worth
approximately 6M to ECDE Centers
vi) Trained 403 ECDE teachers on Child Counseling
and Development of Teaching/ Learning Materials

b. Recruited 5 graduates to manage County

Polytechnics
c. Increased enrollment in Polytechnics from 350
trainees to current 1350 trainees
d. Establish ICT laboratories in 5 County Polytechnics
e. Funded minor varied refurbishment works in 11
polytechnics.
f. Provided initial basic facilities to 6 Home-craft
centers
g. Provided varied essential tools to 11 polytechnics.

vii)Provided 5 ECDE centers with Appropriate

furniture for pupils & teachers

h. Initiated establishment of production units in 4

polytechnics.

viii)Provided 20 ECDE Centers with Fixed play

facilities.

We also established The Kirinyaga Bursary Fund

and in the first two years we have disbursed Ksh
110milion as bursary to needy students benefiting
13,000 of them from all our 20 wards. An additional
Ksh 75million will be disbursed this year.

Under the Polytechnics & Home Crafts (DVET), we

have done the following;
a. Absorbed 102 instructors previously under
national governments contracts

ECDE Centres We have 198 ECDE Centers, with an enrolment of

14,585 The enrolment has grown from a figure of 10,000 before
devolution to the current 15,824. An increase of 5,824 in three
years. We expect this figure to go even higher as we continue to
improve our institutions.

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KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

County Ministry of Education & Public Service

Polytechnics
In three short years enrolment
in Polytechnic has increased
from 350 to 1,350. A total of
1,000 students have joined our
polytechnics. This is a massive
increase directly attributed to
our interventions including
increased investment in
infrastructure and, absorption
qualified instructors.
Home craft Centres
We have a total of six home
craft centers based in all the
sub-counties. These centers are
running Programmes such as
Brick making, Cookery and Basic
Weaving.
ECDE Classrooms
We have done a total of 24
ECDE classrooms, 77 toilets,
provided 20 EDE play facilities,
bought ECDE instructional
materials for 198 ECDE centers,
and procured ECDE furniture for
14 centers.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

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County Ministry of Environment, Water & Natural Resources

Clean,reliable
Natural Resources

The Provision of clean and reliable supply of water

for both domestic and irrigation purposes is a key
priority area of Kirinyaga County Government. In
the three years of devolution we have implemented
138 water development projects at a cost of Ksh
429 Million. These water projects includes; 24 water
intakes, 36 boreholes, 12 water storage facilities,
79 water pipeline projects. The projects are evenly
distributed across the county. Key among these
projects is Mwea-Makima water project which intend

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to ensure the residents of Mwea receives adequate

clean water. It is therefore important to extend the
project so as to provide for water treatment facility
for the project.
Above the water sector projects we have ensured
that distribution of water services is enhanced
through our public water service providers such as
KIRIWASCO.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

The key highlights of the County Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development
are as follows;
1. Digital Mapping for 4(Four) Priority Towns in Kirinyaga
a. The work which is being undertaken by the Technical University of Kenya involves digitalization of all

maps in the four priority towns, Kerugoya, Kutus, Kianyaga and Wanguru.
b. Collection of attribute data i.e information on ownership and sizes through questionnaires. This has

been completed.
c. Aerial survey of the whole county to be done. This will be transferred to spatial planning.

2. Spatial Planning:
i. Consultancy for spatial planning has been advertised and is in the final procurement stage. ii. This is
expected to come up with policies on zoning of towns, valuation rolls which will guide on how much to
charge on rates and rents. This will reveal all plots that have not been rated and charged. iii. Policies and
development controls and registrations.

3. Storm Water Drainage

The consultancy of the above has been finalized and the designs forwarded to the National Ministry of Land,
Housing and Urban Development for implementation who are the financiers of the construction works. These
works include storm water drainages, street lighting and minor road works.

4. County Head Quarters Building

The County Ministry facilitated in acquiring land for construction of County Headquarter. The construction
works commenced on 30th November, 2014 and is expected to be completed by 30th July 2016. The building
has a total of 4575square meters accommodating the Governor, the Deputy Governor, conference halls and
74 offices. The department has also managed to negotiate for extra land within the County headquarters for
future expansion.

5. Medical Research Centre

The County has reserved a 100 acres piece of land within Wamumu area for development of a Medical
Research and Training Institute by KEMRI. This was after serious discussion and deliberations involving
different stakeholders and local community. This culminated with the giving of a title deed to the Director of
KEMRI by the County Governor H.E. J. K. Ndathi. It is expected that the facility will improve the live hood of
the residents by way of providing jobs, market for the local produce, and Health care to the community.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

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County Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure

Infrastructural
Growth

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KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

Transport and Infrastructure

This County Ministry is charged with the responsibility of improvement of County roads, construction of
foot bridges, design and documentation of construction and improvement of infrastructure such as markets,
ECDE and health facilities among others. Among road works done or being worked on are:
i) Kerugoya prison to Kimandi Road in Kergoya ward
ii) Kandongu-Ngothi-Rukanga road in Mutithi ward
iii) Marura-Mairungi link road, Kibukure and Gathanji roads done in Japanese technology known as Do nou

technology all in Kangai ward
iv) Munganga newbridge in Kangai
v) Ngokabridge in Kariti among others.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

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The County Treasury

Financial
Management
The County Ministry of Finance consists of the following departments:
i. Department of Accounting Services
ii. Department of Supply Chain Management
iii. Department of Economic Planning & Budgeting
iv. Department of Resource Mobilization (Revenue)
v. Department of Internal Audit
vi. Department of Information Communication Technology (ICT)
The County Ministry has been instrumental in the formulation of annual policies and drafting
of annual County legislation as listed below.

County Legislation:
Kirinyaga County Finance Act
Kirinyaga County Appropriations Act
Kirinyaga County Revenue Administration Act

County Policies:
i) Kirinyaga County Integrated Development Plan (CDIP)
ii) Kirinyaga County Annual Development Plans (ADP)
iii) Kirinyaga County Fiscal Strategy Paper (CFSP)Kirinyaga County Budget Review & Outlook
Paper (CBROP)
iv) Kirinyaga County Monitoring & Evaluation Plan (M&E)
v) Kirinyaga County ICT Road Map 2016.
Improvement of service delivery has been a key output of this department. In
collaboration with key stake holders such as the Central Bank of Kenya, the
County Treasury has successfully deployed an E- Banking suite that
has the following advantages:
a. Real time settlement of supplier payments via RTGS
b. Access to real time bank account balances
c. Real time inter bank account transfers.

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KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

The County Treasury

Resource Mobilization is another

important role of the County Treasury
Kirinyaga County has been cited and commended for the award
of tenders to preference groups namely Youth, Women and
Persons with Disability
The flagship project has been the development
of the Automated Revenue Collection and
Management System. Development of the Revenue
Management System was completed in January
2016 is currently undergoing testing and approval
from the Commission of Revenue Allocation (CRA)
and National Treasury IFMIS Department. The
entire end to end Automated Revenue Collection
Management System will GO LIVE in March 2016.
Despite the hiccups faced, E-Procurement has finally
taken off in the County. The new Procurement

Act 2015 in with effect 7th January 2016 and the

e-procurement system will herald a change in the
procurement process in the County and ensure
that development funds are absorbed much faster
It should be noted that Kirinyaga County has been
cited and commended for the award of tenders
to preference groups namely Youth, Women and
Persons with Disability. The County Treasury will
continue to ensure that the 30 % threshold is
maintained.

KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER

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County Ministry of Youth, Gender & Social Services

Youth, Sports and Gender

Kirinyaga County Government is committed to developing youth talents and has devoted time and
money for this. To this end a talent academy is in the pipeline where these talents can be nurtured.
Last year over 400 teams took part in a county-wide sports tournament sponsored by the County
Government. On the 30% procurement rule, the county has over 300 companies for the youth, women
and people with disabilities (PWDs) who continue to benefit through AGPO. In empowering PWD
a SACCO known as Kipawa chetu was launched and will go a long way in helping that vulnerable
category. We have continued to support the vulnerable members of our society with food during
drought and recently and in partnership with National Government we issued a 100 wheelchairs. We
have had other actives like County Cancer marathon held on campaign against Cancer in the county.
Thousands people were reached out.

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KIRINYAGA COUNTY 2016 NEWSLETTER