THE COUNTY COMMISSIONER,

THE HON SENATOR, KIRINYAGA COUNTY,

THE HON WOMAN REPRESENTATIVE,
THE HON AREA MP,
THE HON SPEAKER OF THE COUNTY ASSEMBLY,
HON AREA MCA,
HON MCAS PRESENT,
COUNTY AND NATIONAL GOVERNMENT OFFICERS,
INVITED GUESTS,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

It gives me great pleasure to preside over this Mashujaa Day

celebrations, an important day in the history of our nation where
we celebrate our heroes and heroines.
It is a day when we stand in solidarity with all the past and present
heroes and heroines, some who paid the ultimate prize for the sake
of our country.

Our county is home to many such mashujaa whose legacy we shall

continue to treasure. We salute all our mashujaa today, both past
and present.

Ladies and Gentlemen

This

Mashujaa

Day

celebrations

is

the

fourth

since

the

establishment of the devolved system of governance in 2013 and in

line with the new Constitution passed in 2010.

The creation of the county governments is the greatest promise

contained the new constitutional order because it devolved power to
the grassroots where the people are. Today, the people have a say in
all the projects to be implemented by the County Government.

My government has worked hard to ensure the projects identified by

the people through public participation are implemented in a timely
fashion, despite limited resources. We are firmly on-course to fulfil
the promises we made to our people when they elected us to office.

Our county has progressed significantly and many residents

acknowledge that life is better under devolution that it used to be in

the past. Devolution is delivering success and bearing fruits. I can

confidently say that the future of our county is very bright.

Ladies and gentlemen

Before I proceed further, I want to highlight key projects being
undertaken in the county jointly with the National Government that
will spur economic development and improve living standards. After
much lobbying the National Government I am happy to report that
construction work Kutus/Kianyaga/Kithure road has started. This
will ease the transportation crisis facing the people of Gichugu. Lets
appreciate the good work by H E President Uhuru Kenyatta for
remembering the people of Kirinyaga and Gichugu.
I also want to announce that the phase one of street lighting project
between the county and national governments for Kerugoya and
Kutus town is almost complete. The streets of these towns are now
lit 24-hours and residents are happy to conduct their business even
at night without fear. A Sh400 million storm water project between
the county government and the national government for Kianyaga,
Kutus, Kerugoya, Kagumo, Ngurubani and Kagio will soon be rolled
out. The face of these towns will greatly improve as well as the lives
of the residents. As your governor I will continue to seek out
partnerships and collaborations that deliver value to our people.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Regarding health, I am delighted to say that we have continued to
register tremendous gains in this sector. We have made heavy
investments in our four public hospitals. We are currently
renovating the outpatient department at Kerugoya County Referral
Hospital with a view to improving service delivery. The second phase
of the renovations will commence soon and will completely
transform the outpatient department to give it a modern look and
easy to offer the services.

An additional theater is under construction in the hospital and will

be equipped with state of the art theater equipment ready for
operationalization in the month of December 2016. We are in the
final stages of installing an ultra-modern mortuary coolers at
Kerugoya Hospital Mortuary. It will be operational in less than two
months. A higher capacity generator for the hospital which will be
able to cater for the additional equipment has been procured and
will be installed.

In the next few weeks, the hospital will begin offering renal dialysis
services. We are finalizing plans to ensure that any kidney patient

who requires dialysis and has NHIF cover will access these services
FREE of charge.

All this investments are geared towards elevating Kerugoya Hospital

to a level 5 referral hospital that is able to offer specialized medical
services for people of the entire region.

In addition to the tremendous work at Kerugoya, my government is

currently upgrading the Kimbimbi hospital to enable it to serve the
growing Mwea population. To this end, medical equipment worth
more than shillings 18 million have been procured in the last 10
months. This includes an ultra-modern sonogram machine,
anesthetic machine, patient monitor, an autoclave machine, a
dental unit among other equipment.
Further, my government is currently implementing several
infrastructural projects in the hospital which include a maternity
theater and ward complex which will be the largest in the region.
Before the end of this financial year, my government will ensure
that the mortuary at Kimbimbi hospital is operational.

At Kianyaga Hospital, my government is constructing a maternity

and MCH block as well as a radiology block to cater for the medical
needs of the people of Gichugu sub-county. Once the maternity
block is complete, we shall be able to open male medical and

surgical wards at Kianyaga hospital for the first time. My county

government is currently renovating the outpatient department in
the hospital and has recently opened a dental unit within the
hospital. Sagana hospital is also undergoing a similar upgrade with
female and children wards and an X-ray block under construction.

My government has also prioritized construction of new

dispensaries and upgrading of existing health centers and
dispensaries. We have13 new dispensaries under construction all
over the county.

This year alone, my government has operationalized 2 new

dispensaries, that is Kamuiru and Kiaga dispensary. This brings to
8 the number of new facilities that have been operationalized since
my government came into place. We intend to continue with this
trend and open the dispensaries once construction and equipping is
complete.

These major investments in health require additional health

workers and my government has employed more than 580 new
heath workers ranging from consultant doctors, dentists, nurses,
clinical officers, laboratory technologists among others. These
health workers have been distributed to all health facilities across
the county in a bid to improve health service delivery.

This financial year, my government has set aside funds to acquire

NHIF cover for the elderly and persons living with disability from all
the county. This will shield these vulnerable groups from the
financial burden.

In addition to the roads, being undertaken by the national

government in our county, our department of roads and public
works has set aside shillings 400 million for rehabilitation of roads
falling under our government. This means each ward will get
shillings 20 million for roads. This will improve connectivity of our
villages and towns. Technical preparation for this work is complete
and the county-wide constructions are scheduled to start by the
end of this year.

Since 2013, the Ministry has accomplished the following:

Sanitation Construction of hygienic public toilets in many

markets across the county.
Markets several markets have either been constructed or
rehabilitated across the county. These include: Kutus old
market, Kerugoya, Kagumo, Kagio, Kianyaga, Sagana,

Kimbimbi, Gitumbi, Mucagara, Gatuiri, Gategi B, Nguka and

Wanguru.
The impact of this has been improvement of the working
environment of the traders and enhancement of business.

Floodlights Several operational floodlights have been erected

across the county. Beneficially areas include Makutano,
Kutus, Kibirigwi, Baricho, Kimbimbi, Sagana, Kianyaga,
Maendeleo,Ndorome,Kutus Mjini, Kamwana, Mururiini,
Kanjai, Gitumbi, Kwa Eliud, Kibingo and Kangai.
County Headquarters The Kirinyaga County Headquarters is
approaching completion and is scheduled for occupation by
mid November 2016. To optimize the usage of available space,
this department undertook the relocation of the Chiefs office
and Administration Police quarters to an alternative site with
modern facilities.
The completion of the Headquarters will enhance the access of
Kirinyaga residents to centralized services.

Footbridges So far, this Ministry has overseen the completion

of 29 foot bridges that have enhanced the transport network
connectivity, with a positive socio-economic impact.

 Culverts and Box culverts So far the Ministry has overseen

the installation of over 384 m of culverts and several box
culverts on our roads.
Roads
Do Nou Technology has been employed as a cost effective
method of road construction within poor drainage/marshy
areas of the County. Roads constructed under this technology
include: Kahiro in Kariti ward, Kirogo Merite and Rurii road in
Nyangati, Kathanji Road in Kangai Ward.
Other road works
Countywide, we have so far undertaken the improvements of
84 km of roads to gravel standards in addition grading several
roads across the county.

Streetlights In addition to the street lighting project so far

implemented in Kerugoya and Kutus, we have a budget of
Ksh.40 m this financial year to extend street lighting to our
other major commercial and administrative centres. The
design for the street lighting is ongoing and construction is
scheduled to commence by December 2016.
Rural Electrification- So far the ministry has partnered with
the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) in funding 17 rural
electrification projects. These projects are at various stages of

implementation and their completion will translate into the

electrification of an additional 1350 households.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Agriculture is the backbone of the economy of our County. Over

72% of our people rely on Agriculture for their livelihood. The
Government has been very keen in developing this key sector. The
Government has invested in irrigation infrastructure to transform
agriculture from rained fed to irrigated agriculture. The Government
has also over the last four years procured high yielding crop
planting materials.
The livestock subsector is developing at a very rapid rate. Currently
the dairy farmers are producing eighty (83) million litres per year.
The National Government has invested in production of liquid
Nitrogen in our County. As a County Government we want benefit
from by investing funds to lower the cost of Artificial Insemination
from the current shs.1500 to shs.700. In this financial year the
county will invest shillings 7 million.
Fish subsector is another area that presents a lot of promise for our
county. The major constraint has been availability of feeds.
Currently the cost of high quality feeds has been very high and
most fish farmers cannot afford. The Government in conjunction

with Food and Agriculture Organization and the State Department

of Fisheries are putting up a facility to manufacture fish feeds. It is
expected that this shillings 15 million facility will be in production
by April next year.

On environment,

It important to note that a clean and healthy environment and

appropriate

management

of

our

Natural

Resources

remains

fundamental responsibility of each and every one of us.

I therefore call upon each one of us today to strive and become a
Shujaa in ensuring this constitutional responsibility is realized.
My government has taken an early lead in this, by ensuring
cleanliness in our urban centers is sustained through provision of
adequate cleaning staff with appropriate safety gears and tools. In
addition; we have funded development of 26 water-intakes, 12 water
reservoirs and 9 bore-holes projects. Further to this, 4 water canals
have been rehabilitated and more than 1000 needy families have
benefited with house hold water tanks.
However, as we continue to reiterate our commitment to clean
environment, I must not forget to remind you that trees is life.

Therefore, as we protect our national and county forests, we need to

embrace agroforestry as a strategy to increase our tree cover which
currently stand at 8%. As Shujaa Late Wangari Mathai said your
little thing and my little thing will make world a better place. Let
each one of us commit ourselves to be planting at least 5 trees a
year. This will dramatically change our tree cover

Ladies and gentlemen,

The number of cooperative societies has grown by 29% from 89 in

2013 to 115 this year. An increase of 26 brand new cooperative
societies. The membership by 22% from 250,000 to 350,000
members. Over 50 per cent of Kirinyaga residents are members of a
cooperative society. The shareholding has risen from Shillings 900
million to Sh 1.1 billion. The turnover has grown from shillings 4
billion to shillings 7 billion, a growth of 52%. Employment in the
sector has grown from 900 to 1,120 permanent employees.
On trade, we have given Loans to Small and Mirco Enterprises
through the county department of Trade totaling to shillings 36
million over the last 4 and a half years

The programme cuts across all the wards and has impacted on
about 420 Traders who in turn support their families. This is a

continuous project and the challenge has been to get more funds to
support more traders. The interest rates are way below the bank
rates at 8% and many businesses appreciate the scheme.

On markets our program to improve all our markets is going on

well. Our focus this year is to complete Kagio market, construct
market sheds in Kerugoya and Kutus markets. We will also empower
our youth and women with car wash machines, tents, fuel pump,
water tanks and driving licenses.

Ladies and gentlemen

The County Government of Kirinyaga recognizes the important role
played by sports. As such my Government will continue to support
sports initiatives geared towards talent development and sports
infrastructure development.

Today, we celebrate a sporting hero

from our county Daniel Wanjiru, the winner of Amsterdam

Marathon winner. We thank him for the hard work that has won
our county and country accolades.

This financial year 10 million has been allocated towards youth

sports activities. There is already an ongoing county youth league
with 174 football teams both men and women.

The county has

engaged coaches who are selecting the best youth players. So far
100 youth have been identified and they will be taken to a
youthcamp

whereby the very best players will be selected to form a

strong county team through the county sports department. Later

my government will sponsor them to kenya youth inter-county
games.
The county government has continued to empower the youth
through creating employment, 30% procurement rule of Access to
Government Procurement Opportunities (YAGPO). They have also
secured full time (permanent) jobs in the county over 50% of the
newly employed employees in the county are basically youth.
The talent academy is under construction for the 1 st phase worth
9.7 million. This will go a long way in developing our youths talents
in this county. On sports promotion, the county has equipped the
sports clubs with basic sports equipment; uniforms, balls, playing
boots, football and volleyball nets and goalposts. In order to improve
sporting facilities, the 1st phase of stadia renovation are ongoing
namely; Kianyaga, Waguru and Kerugoya. Other community
playgrounds have also been renovated.
On Marketing, the county government has also exposed the youths
by sponsoring the best teams to Kwale County in December 2015,
best athletic teams to Muranga in April 2016 and our artists to
Machakos in August 2016. The county, through the ministry of

youth has continued to create sensitization and education to the

youth against alcohol and drug abuse. To this end, all the factories
which manufacture second generation brews has been closed down.
The county government have embarked on empowering the people
for better lives. During the crackdown campaign against second
generation brew my government provided healthcare services to
persons who were extremely affected by second generation brews.
The ministry of youth has also trained 185 bodaboda riders to
acquire driving licenses as well as providing helmets to them.
On women and gender empowerment capacity building have been
done. Also empowerment of persons with disability has been done
through a SACCO which has 600 members and so far its lending
the money at 1% to the persons with disability. My government will
continue to support the marginalized and vulnerable in the society.
For community empowerment 12 social halls has been allocated
money and the construction is almost complete.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Our county is known countrywide for its good performance in

education. We continue to support our students with bursary and
this has reduced the dropout rates and enhanced performance. In

the last three years we have given our shillings 189 million to over
30,000 students. This year we have set aside another shillings 90
million for bursary to needy students.

In summary we have 198 ECDE Centers, with an enrolment of

15,824. The enrolment has been grown from a figure of 10,000
before devolution to 15,824 within the three years of Devolution.
Close to 6,000 extra kids have been enrollment which is a big
achievement. We have constructed 25 classrooms and another 19
will be constructed this year. We have built 77 ECDE toilets and 20
fixed play facilities one for each ward. We have also bought furniture
and learning materials for the centres.

Finally, I urge the people of Kirinyaga not to be swayed by naysayers

and peddlers of falsehoods who are crisscrossing the county. As we
approach the general elections, many false prophets will come your
way with all manner of promises. My challenge to you is to strictly
scrutinize each person and ask them to account for their time when
they held big positions in government. Let them show you tangible
things they have done for the people of Kirinyaga.

As I conclude I want to wish all our candidates both at the primary

and secondary level success in their coming national examinations.
I wish them well as they do our county proud.

Thank you
God Bless You
God Bless Kirinyaga
God Bless Kenya