Mashujaa Day 2015 Speech

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SPEECH BY THE GOVERNOR OF KIRINYAGA COUNTY,

H. E HON JOSEPH K NDATHI, ON THE OCCASION TO MARK

THE 6TH MASHUJAA DAY CELEBRATIONS AT THE

KERUGOYA STADIUM ON 20TH OCTOBER 2015

The County Commissioner

Hon Senator

Hon Woman Rep

Hon MPs Present

Hon Speaker of the County Assembly

Hon Area MCA

Hon MCAs Present

Invited Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to join you here today to mark yet another

special day in the history of our country. As you are all aware,

Mashujaa day is marked every year to celebrate our gallant heroes

and heroines whose bravery, sacrifices and selflessness earned our

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country the liberation and self-governance that we are now enjoying

today.


As a people, we draw inspiration from our ‘Mashujaa’ who came

before us and shown us the way. Our county produced many of these

heroes and heroines and we are proud of this. We are proud today

that our ‘forefathers’ from this county were at the frontline of the

independence struggle and we are eternally indebted to them. For us,

the only way to honour them is to carry forward their dreams of

independence by rejecting domination, adaption of practices and

values that create unjust society and manipulation from any quarter

at the expense of a peaceful and prosperous nation.

As we honour our heroes and heroines of independence, we recognize

that we have many of those present and who have contributed

immensely to the growth and development of Kirinyaga as well as

placing our county among the best in Kenya.

Kirinyaga County is minimally known in the entire country and was

recently described in one of the local popular dailies, as Canaan of

Kenya because of its rich agricultural climate, soil and other natural

resources.

With those remarks, I would now wish to turn my attention to the

following sectors:

Education: Starting with education, our county is known as an

academic giant. Today, I recognize our students, teachers, parents and

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school management boards as true modern day heroes who have put

Kirinyaga right at the top of academic charts, year after year. We

thank you and urge you to continue with this great work. That has

also resulted in most parents in the country wanting his/her child to

study in our county. As a government, we will continue to invest in

this sector including offering bursaries and investing in

development oriented projects that include sanitary facilities,

classrooms, inter alia. This has resulted in improved performance

and access to education at primary, secondary and polytechnics.


Agriculture: In agriculture, Kirinyaga produces the best coffee and

tea in the whole world. We also produce the best aromatic rice in

Kenya and our horticulture products are 60 per cent of the entire

Kenyan produce. I want to recognize our farmers as true heroes.

Through their sweat and good crop husbandry, they have put

Kirinyaga in the world map and boosted agro-tourism. As a County

Government, we will continue to support you with technical expertise,

exploring new markets, subsidizing agricultural inputs and

developing strategies to optimize production, cash flows and returns

to our farmers. Kirinyaga being an agricultural county we are asking

the farmers to also take advantage of the rains and ensure their farms

are well prepared and visit their agricultural extension officers for

expert advice. It is also an opportunity to plant trees and protect the

environment.

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Health: Turning to health care services, Kirinyaga is ranked among

the top nine counties that provide best health care services. This has

undoubtedly been achieved through hard work of our health workers

and support from the County Government. While we acknowledge

that more still needs to be done to improve services and health

infrastructure, I am delighted to note that good progress has been

made in this field and the position we are in isn’t the same we were

before devolution, about three years ago

However, as we celebrate the improvement made in this sector, I

sadly note that we have a few medicswho have been taking us back

ward through stealing of drugs and non-pharmaceutical products

which are meant for the patients and have reportedly also been

directing people to certain clinics and laboratories they own. Let them

stop this unethical and criminal practice as the long arm of the law

will soon catch up with them.I thank our people who give us

information on these rogue workers and urge them to continue doing

so and promise to treat such information with utmost confidence.

We have increased the human resource work force by employing 279

new health workers including nurses, clinical officers, medical

laboratory technologists, pharmaceutical technologists,

physiotherapist, among others. Additionally, the county absorbed 109

additional health workers who were previously working under

contracts. The county has also employed 15 doctors in the following

health facilities: Kerugoya -6, Kianyaga -3, Kimbimbi-5 and Sagana

Hospital- 1.This makes staff doctor compliment of 43 in the county.

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More facilities have been opened, namely:Kiarukungu health

centre,Kiamuthambi, Ngugu-ini and Gathuthuma dispensaries. As a

result, more health facilities are now able to offer 24 hours services

for example Gathigiriri, Kiangai, Gatwe and Nguka dispensaries.

In overall there is notable increased range of medical services to the

people of Kirinyaga e.g. Clinical services with clinical officers in all

dispensaries, Dental services, Nutritional services, Physiotherapy

and Occupational services in all health facilities

This financial year, the County Government has allocated Kshs

385,478,814 for development projects in the Department of Health.

This will fund 98 ongoing and new projects in the health sector. These

include construction of new health facilities in Kiarura, Karima,

Ng’othi, Kirwara and several others. The completion of 6 medical

laboratories is expected to be finalized this financial year and also

two (2) X-Ray departments. Baricho, Kianyaga, Kiamutugu, Kabare,

Difathas and Kerugoya maternities have been upgraded.

Recently, we procured 4 ambulances for Kshs 21 Million, one for

each sub-county and 1 generator (100KVA) for Kimbimbi hospital.

In addition,in the current financial year, the county made budgetary

provision to purchase the following key equipment worth over 50

Million:

1. Digital X-Ray machine for Kerugoya hospital

2. Mortuary coolers for Kerugoya hospital mortuary

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3.1 oxygen plant for Kerugoya hospital

4. Laundry equipment for Kerugoya and Kimbimbi hospitals

5. Generators for 6 health centers.

Turning to medical supplies, we have continued to supply medical

drugs and lab reagents in the 58 public health facilities. This financial

year, 91 Million has been set aside for purchase of drugs. So far, drugs

worth 28 Million have been procured to run the health facilities for

the next 3months.

We have put in new measures to increase revenue collection and we

are urging residents to support the county in this endeavour.


Water: Because of the vitality of water, my government has for the

last two years implemented several water projects in almost every

ward. Many of these projects are complete and for the first time since

independence, our people are using clean piped water for both

domestic and irrigation purposes. By the beginning of this year, 2015,

we had implemented 75 water projects and supplied close to 30,000

people with water to their homes. Between January and September

this year, we have supported 86 water projects with pipes, fittings

and materials worth Ksh 125 Million, 12 water intakes and 5

masonry tanks are under construction, while 8 boreholes are

scheduled for immediate drilling.


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As for the youth, women and people living with disabilities, they

remain at the heart of my government and have ensured that they get

30 per cent of all County Government tenders.

I mention these few projects to highlight some of my administration’s

achievements in the short period we have been in office, with many

more projects being in the pipeline. These will become more evident

in the coming financial year.

Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen

As you are aware, the Meteorological Department and National

Government have confirmed the dreaded El-Nino rains have started in

some parts of the county.We expect above normal rainfall and if not

well managed and mitigation measures put in place, this could have

devastating effects. My government is putting in place measures to

deal with this phenomenon and especially, expected disruption of

normal activities. I have established a county coordination and

communication team to manage disaster cases. This team includes

officers from both County and National Governments. Support Sub-

County operations centers are being set up in respective Sub-

Counties.

We expect that there will be increased disease burden especially in

the low lying areas of Mwea Sub County and because of that we have

asked the health department to stockpile medicine especially for

waterborne diseases and Malaria.

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We will also ensure that there will be a mobile clinic strategically

positioned to attend to emergency issues. We will also ensure that

there are enough water treatment tablets. We are also opening up

drainages to ensure there is free flow of water and we are liaising

with the National Government to ensure that the roads that will get

washed away are promptly repaired.

I am urging all residents who are in low lying areas and are prone to

flooding, to prepare to move to higher grounds should the need arise.

We urge the residents to put their safety first and be on the lookout

for any impending danger especially from flooding, swollen rivers,

landslides, lightening and cooperate with officers from County and

National Governments who will be at hand to assist you.


I am aware that poor drainage has affected investments and growth of

our towns. To this end, we have partnered with the national

government to improve storm water drainage in Wang’uru, Kagio,

Mutithi, Kianyaga, Kutus, Kagio, Kianjiru, Baricho, Kiangai, Kimbimbi

and Kibingoti. Designs and contract documents are complete and the

procurement process started. When completed, the project will

improve drainage and trigger investment in these towns.

In the sanitation sector, negotiations with a number of prospective

partners are underway for both localized solutions and a larger

sewage treatment system for the major urban centres of Kirinyaga. As

a stop gap measure the County Government has plans to procure two

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exhausters to service both the Government sanitation facilities and

the general public.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I call upon on all leaders to promote economic empowerment of our

people especially, the youth. It is a shame and a betrayal to our

heroes when elected leaders turn to dishing handouts to our

young people instead of engaging them in economic empowering

activities. Leaders should inspire the people to greater ideals and

should not lead them toself-destruction and creation of dependency

syndrome.

In this regard, I thank our people for supporting the call by our

president, H. E Hon Uhuru Kenyatta to get rid of illicit brews. I am

happy to see that the number of drunken youths has drastically gone

down as my Government pursues zero tolerance for second

generation and other brews. As a county,we fully support the

President’s directive and we shall implement it until all illicit brews

are eradicated in the county.

Finally, I urge you all to always take part in public participation when

invited to do so. It is in these fora that you express what you want the

County Government to do in your constituency or ward.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

BeforeI conclude, the Council of Governors has expressed concern

with the delay in release of funds by the National Government. This

has resulted in delayed payment of salaries and bills, thereby causing

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anxiety among workers and suppliers. The delays occasioned since

July 2015 are grounding counties to a halt. Yet, salaries need to be

paid on time to pre-empt industrial and socialupheavals, inter alia.

The National Treasury must treat this issue with utmost urgency and

seriousness it deserves. It must also release county monies

immediately to avoid wrecking devolution.

The Council of Governors further notes with concern that the timeline

that had been allocated for the complete transfer of all functions

assigned to County Governments lapses in March 2016.

The limited transfer of functions to County Governments will

inevitably culminate into a constitutional crisis if not remedied within

the mentioned time-frame. At the moment, the inordinate delays

occasioned by the various national government institutions in the

transfer of the remaining county functions have compromised

implementation of the same. First, functions must be properly

transferred through the recognized legal framework if they are to be

effectively implemented. Unless the transition authority gazettes for

the transfer of a function, a County Government cannot proceed to

perform that function. Subsequently, any form of service delivery and

revenue collection attendant to the pending functions becomes

impeded. Second, we must remember that our governance system is

founded upon the ‘funds follow functions’ principle. As the ground is

laid for the transfer of the pending functions, so must the resources be

availed for the performance of those functions.

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AsI conclude, I take this opportunity to wish all candidates the best

wishes. Be our heroes. As for residents, please be good ambassadors

of this county and join me and my government in the noble task of

nation building. Let’s all make this county a better place to live in for

the sake of ourselves and posterities

Thank you and God bless you all

H E Hon Joseph K. Ndathi

Governor

Kirinyaga County

Documents

Mashujaa Day 2015 Speech