State of the County Address.

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ADDRESS BY H.E. WILLIAM KABOGO, GOVERNOR, KIAMBU COUNTY AT A SPECIAL SITTING OF THE KIAMBU COUNTY ASSEMBLY ASS EMBLY th

JUNE 24 , 2015.

HON. DEPUTY GOVERNOR, THE SPEAKER OF THE COUNTY ASSEMBLY, THE CLERK TO THE COUNTY ASSEMBLY, HONOURABLE MEMBERS OF THE COUNTY ASSEMBLY, DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

1.  A little over a year ago, I stood before you to share with you the progress made in the implementation of the County Government of Kiambu’s policies and plans, share our success stories and highlight some of our challenges.

2.  With your continued support and unwavering commitment to the development of Kiambu County, we have come a long way these last twelve months. Once again, in line with my Constitutional duties and those outlined in Section 30 of the County Governments’ Act, I am honoured to address this special sitting of the Assembly and share our progress.

Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members:

3.  Our vision for Kiambu Kiambu County is no longer a vision. Each day these last several months, we have worked to translate our goals and commitments enunciated in the County Integrated Development Plan into a reality. Our Vision remains clear. But today, it is more than just a vision. Its daily implementation is giving birth to

 

Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

tangible developmental progress for our County and the lives of our People whom we serve.

4.  We have been bold and bullish in our developmental agenda, and in the process, have blazed the trail in several sectors, drawing glowing accolades across the Board.

5.  Kiambu was recognized as the First County to go live on full revenue automation. We won the first ICTAK award on best use of ICT in the County Government Category. We have been declared the Best in adherence to Procurement laws by PPOA. And the CRA has rranked anked us third in the Financial Year 2013/14 on fiscal responsibility, budget absorption and prudent use and management of resources. We look forward to being Number 1 in the Financial Year coming to a close next week and to drawing more positive attention to ourselves.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members:

6.  This recognition has been the result of a concerted effort by my Government to ensure that effective management and discipline become engrained as a way of life for each person who serves in the County Government. With your oversight role as the County Assembly, we have proven that it is indeed possible, in spite of any actual or perceived differences, to work in unison for the greater good of this County. I thank you for this Assembly’s continued support in the implementation of our development agenda.

7.  Article 10 of our Constitution binds all state organs and stage and public officers to observe the national values and principles of governance. The rule of law is a key principle of Governance. Every function of the County Government is anchored under the law and the discharge of those functions is guided by set laws. 2

 

Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

The County Government set up a legal office to aid the County Government in  performing its functions under strict compliance with the law. Indeed, the achievements by the departments outlined in this Address would not have been realised without tremendous support from our executive legal team, which is working closely with the legal team within this Assembly. 8.  With no legal officers inherited from the former eight local authorities on devolution, the County Government now boasts a fully-fledged legal office housed in the Department Public Service and Administration. The establishment of this Office was preceded by the conduct of a full audit of all legal matters inherited from the former local authorities, with a view to ascertaining our liabilities under such matters and centralizing all legal functions for efficiency and expediency  purposes. 9.  The office is staffed with 4 qualified and competent Advocates of the High Court and 2 legal assistants charged with the responsibility of dealing with all legal matters affecting the County Government. The office now handl handles es almost 80% o off all litigation and contractual drafting without engaging external counsel and this has drastically reduced the costs attached to defending the County Government in court, and thus releasing much needed funds for application towards other development projects.

10. Over the last year, 9 significant pieces of legislation have been passed by this Assembly ranging ranging from matters finance to health health..

12 ot other her Bills are under

development from the various departments and are either already before you, or will be presently before you. Your joint efforts in the legislative drafting process are laudable and I encourage this continued collaborative effort as we create the necessary enabling environment for governance, transparency, and investment in Kiambu County. 3

 

Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members:

11. None of our collective efforts to give effect to our CIDP would be possible   without the allocation of su sufficient fficient resources to our development budget.

Since

inception, we have been, and continue to be challenged by the issue of a huge wage bill and related recurrent expenditure, a legacy from the former Local Authorities.

12. This Government’s challenge has therefore been to adopt various measures to ensure that we see an increase in service delivery to our People, improve the quality of such service, increase Locally Generated Revenues within the  parameters outlined in Article 209 of our Cons Constitution titution and balance our workforce and payroll. In the end, we aim to reduce tthis his County Government’s reli reliance ance on the National Government allocation.

13. In order to achieve these objectives, this government has fully embraced technology commencing with the implementation of an automated receipting system and business intelligence system. We are now able to track all revenue collection on a real time basis, consolidate the legacy system LAIFOMS from 8 former local authorities into one central system and thereby establish a single trustworthy source of information for decision making.

14. We have introduced a self-help portal for all the residents of Kiambu County accessible on www.digitika.kiambu.go.ke  www.digitika.kiambu.go.ke  where our residents can log in and request for services from the county and be able to effect payments online. For the convenience of our residents, we are supporting different modes of payment, MPESA, Airtel money, Visa and MasterCard. Earlier this year, we introduced QR Codes for licence verification to avoid fraud. 4

 

Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

15. In response to our Head of State’s call  call  to coordinate more with national institutions and leverage on existing structures, the Department of Finance also solicited the support of the National Youth Service which deployment of 85 additional Revenue & Enforcement Officers.

We th thank ank this Assembly for its

timely approval of the engagement of these officers as their visible presence on the ground complemented our internal automation efforts.

16. Finally, the County Government will be issuing an initial 100,000 residents with the Visa-Enabled Kiambu County Cards, which will be used for various fee  payments to the County Government and which can also be used on other  platforms such as matatu fare payment and online shopping amongst others.

17. Our investment in these measures has not gone to waste. Revenue collection as at May 2014 stood at Kes 1,1 Billion compared to Kes 2,1 billion in May 2015. We expect to see an increase in the coming fiscal year, as our residents and workforce get more accustomed to the digi digitization tization taking place withi within n the County.

Out of

the total internal revenue collection, a total of Kes. 456 Million has been used to fund the development budget.

18. It is my expectation that as the internally generated revenues increase, so will our obligation to develop the necessary Infrastructure to meet the future growth of our County.

We will continue to entrench ourselves as innov innovative ative & efficient

Government, utilizing utilizing iinternational nternational best practices in revenue collection.

As a

result of our successes, we have received tremendous support from international agencies such as UN Habitat, who have assigned a consultant to work with us through this process of enhancing local revenues and strengthening our financial management systems.

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

19. In addition to the support we are receiving from UN Habitat, the County Government is working closely with the ICT Authority and the World Bank Group in finalizing our ICT Roadmap on how to better use technology to improve and increase service delivery to our our People. This will ensure tthat hat we continue to invest in the appropriate technology which will serve as an enabler in efficient, costeffective and transparent internal operations and ensure that it we maintain global  best practices while integrating with national and neighbouring County ICT infrastructure and systems, consisted with the philosophy of shared ICT services.

20. Other commendable efforts of our Department of Finance include the establishment of the County Budget and Economic Forum in line with the  provisions of the Public Finance Management Act. This body has provided the  public with opportunities to participate in how their County is governed, including how public finances are managed to deliver services and foster development. It has been a crucial tool and has served as the primary institution for facilitating  public participation. Its establishment has been an integral part of the government’s strategy to improving accountability and public participation at the county level.

21. With the establishment of the Emergency Fund in early 2014, the Department has had to approve disbursements from the Fund to the tune of Kes 26.4 million spent on emergency cases. A further Kshs.15.2 million was loaned to Department of Health Services at the beginning of the financial year when the Hospitals were in crisis due to delayed disbursements from the Controller of Budget.

22. The Department has also eliminated all forms of manual payments and has fully adopted the IFMIS System and e-procurement system, measures that will minimize tampering and fraud usually endemic in procurement processes.

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

23. Finally, the Department has already embarked on the process of attaining ISO 9001:2008 for Quality Management systems. This certification is aimed at ensuring continuous improvement of our processes and procedures.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members:

24. The business of service service delivery is tou tough gh business. It calls for a rationalization of our workforce on the one hand and an investment in their talent for improved service delivery to our People. It requires us to rid o ourselves urselves of deadwood while recognising that the livelihoods of many are in our hands as a government. The roles of our County Public Service Board and the Department of Public Service & Administration are therefore pivotal in managing this balance.

25. In the last year, we have been able to fill various administrative positions in accordance with the provisions provisions of the Co County unty Governments Act. These include 10 County Chief Officers, the County Secretary, 12 Sub-County Administrators and 46 new Ward Administrators. Other departmental recruitments include 134 health workers comprised of nursing officers, clinical officers, laboratory technicians, nutritionists, radiographers, pharmacists, among others. In addition, the Board ratified the appointment of 46 doctors who had been posted by the National Government and these have been deployed in various health facilities across the County.

26. With infrastructure development being a cornerstone of our growth as a County, we have recruited another 54 officers to fill various positions ranging from superintendent of works, engineers, surveyors and various maintenance inspectors for the Department of Transport & Infrastructure Development. The Department of Land, Housing & Planning will also benefit from the ongoing recruitment of 58

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

officers at Director level through to technical officers such as cartographers, monitoring & enforcement officers, valuers, among others.

27. With our special focus on performance management and quality service delivery, the County Government has implemented a Performance Management System with the support of the World Bank. The System is in instrumental strumental in monitorin monitoring g efficiency and effectiveness in the implementation of the various Departmental activities and has proved to be a vital tool in ensuring optimum performance in the delivery of services to our People.

28. In our recruitment of personnel, the Board has endeavoured to adhere to the Constitutional thresholds including the requirement that at least 30% of vacant  posts at entry level are filled by candidates who aare re not from the do dominant minant ethnic community in the County. While Kiambu County is a cosmopolitan County with a  projected population o off 1.2 million b by y2 2017, 017, we still find that the majority of the applications come from one dominant community. During the recruitment process for Ward Administrators, for example, it was difficult to achieve the one-third threshold, leading to the re-advertisement of 14 positions, primarily targeting nondominant communities within the County. 29. We expect that with time, we shall be able to attract the right talent from across all communities representing in the County, and I encourage Kenyans from all walks of life to apply for the positions advertised by b y our Board.

30. The Department of Public Administration and the Board are in the final stages of approving all necessary Human Resource policies, our Service Charter and Performance Contracts in line with national and international best practice.

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

31. Our County Executive Committee has also embraced ICT with the implementation of the e-Cabinet solution in September 2014. This has enabled the Executive Committee to hold online discussions with Members being able to submit agendas online and vote for them. All Executive Committee papers for discussion prior to the Executive Committee meetings and this enables all Members to participate in the meetings even when they have tr travelled avelled abroad.

Needless to say, this

development has greatly increased efficiency in service delivery spearheaded by the County Executive Committee.

32. While Kenya was recently ranked the third fastest growing economy in the world,  behind China and the Philippines, the World Economic Forum’s “ Africa Competitiveness Report, 2015



launched last month, identifies corrupti corruption on as the

 Number 1 impediment to doing business in Kenya. My County Government is determined to promote a Corrupt Free environment.

To this end, we have

established the County Anti-corruption Coordination Unit and a Departmental Procurement Unit and it is my hope that effective measures will continue to be implemented to rid ourselves of this negative image and promote Kiambu County as the place to do business in Kenya.

33. Finally, the Department of Public Administration has established a Task Force to fast track the completion of our County Government’s Headquarters in Kiambu Sub-County with a view to permanently locating the head office to our gazette headquarters. With completion of the works almost done, it iiss anticipated that tthe he shift will take place in the early part of this coming fiscal year.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members:

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

34. Our investment in the early education of our children is an important element in ensuring we develop the next generation of leaders. However, while the Board shortlisted and interviewed over 2,000 teachers for our ECD centres, we continue to be embroiled in the national saga around their recruitment and cannot finalise this process with the current court order still in place. I however remain confident that this protracted legal process will culminate in a favourable decision for the County Governments, so we can proceed with our work of investing in our children’s future.  future.  35. Finally, the County Government continues to labour under the legacy of historical legal actions filed by employees of the former local authorities, and negotiations are still underway for out of court settlements which we hope to conclude in the near term.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members of this Assembly:

36. As the fastest urbanising County in the Republic of Kenya that has over 70% of its  population reliant on agriculture either directly or indirectly for their livelihoods, it is imperative that the right balance be maintained to ensure sustainable development of our County while remaining the breadbasket of our nati nation. on. Our agricultural land sizes are diminishing to pave way for real estate developments in an effort to deal with the increasing population p pressure. ressure. Our people continue to rely on rain-fed agriculture due to limitation of irrigation infrastructure and uptake of modern technology and scientific farming methodologies in the agricultural sector remains slow.

37. Last year, I reported that my Government had undertaken a comprehensive review of the strategy for the agricultural sector in order to come up with a new agenda for this sector and the rural economy in general. I am pleased to announce that, following these endeavours, the Department of Agriculture launched its Strategic 10

 

Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

Plan which is aligned aligned to our CIDP and the National Vision 2030 2030.. The main output areas of this plan are food security, wealth and employment creation.

38. The Department of Agriculture, Livestock & Fisheries has in the last twelve months placed great emphasis on the training of our farmers. The department has constructed 60 green houses in all the sub-counties. These are used as demonstration centres for farmers and through these centres, more than 1,500 farmers have been trained on agronomic practices of crop management.

The

 process of procuring 20 more greenhouses is now complete and these will be constructed in several wards across the County.

39. We have not stopped at the provision of training facilities. For ease of marketing, all the green house groups were brought together to elect delegates and to form a marketing cooperative  –   the Kiambu Agri-business Marketing Society Limited  –   or KIAMA as it has popularly come to be known. The cooperative has been used to market produce from the 60 green houses with the aim of using it for collective marketing of horticultural produce of Kiambu farmers. The cooperative has already been registered and has opened a bank account.

40. My Office has negotiated with various retail chains including Nakumatt, Fruity Fruits and Zucchini Groceries to enable our farmers’ produce is absorbed into these outlets. While the group has managed to meet several orders, the main challenge remain meeting the quantities required. The Department of Agriculture is therefore working with the co-operative to strategise on how to bring in more groups on board so that the quantities required by the retail outlets can be met. However, I am pleased to report that several groups have already banked over Kes 100,000 through this initiative and we are honoured to be part of the process of increasing the income levels of our People.

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

41.  With the growing number of obesity and diabetes related health complications in our society,

the Department of Agriculture has embarked on a campaign to

reduce the consumption consumption of sug sugar ar and replace this with sweeteners. To this end, Stevia promotion and growing has been initiated in Kiambu County and Stevia cuttings have been provided to 120 farmers from the upper highland areas of Githunguri, Lari, Limuru, Gatundu North and Gatundu South.

42. The County Government sponsored 20 farmers and 8 staff for a study ttour our on stevia growing growing at Kericho and has executed a Memorandum of Understanding with an offtaker - Pure Circle  –  who   who will purchase all the stevia that our Kiambu farmers will grow.

43. We had commenced the training of our farmers in tissue culture and banana  promotion in the last financial year.

This year, to ensure technology

dissemination, farmers have been trained at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute and Waruhiu Agricultural Training Centre. In support of the technology, two banana hardening nurseries have been constructed and 10 more are earmarked to to ensure constant supply in all the sub-Counties. Training on  banana production and value addition have been conducted to about 1,000 farmers. Finally, a Banana collection centre will be constructed at Karuri market where farmers will leverage on the benefits of collective bargaining.

44. With Food Security being a priority across our continent, the Department of Agriculture is collaborating with the national government in a food security  project and has supplied planting seed and ffertilizer ertilizer to farmers across the County. Under this initiative, plans are underway to provide dairy goats and indigenous chicken worth Kes 160 million to vulnerable families in arid and semi-arid areas of Nachu and Ndeiya.

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

45. In order to address the challenges our farmers are facing in accessing government subsidized farm inputs such as fertilizer, the Department of Agriculture has entered into an agreement with National Cereals & Produce Board to facilitate the opening of three fertilizer depots for farmers to access fertilizers easily. Though the depots are run by officers from NCPB, the department facilitated refurbishing the depots and equipped them with the necessary infrastructure including Internet access, Computers and printers.

46. In the year 2014, the Kiambu County produced 300 million litres of milk valued at Kes 9 Billion. The County Government through the Department of Agriculture has therefore already embarked on value addition measures to ensure dairy farmers will be cooling and processing their own milk. This year Kes 63 million was set aside for installation of 6 bulk milk coolers of 2,000 litres, two bulk milk coolers of 5,000 litres and one Pasteurizer of 500 litres per hour capacity.

47. On Aquaculture, the County Government has finalised the construction of 4 fish  ponds per sub-County and procurement of fish liners and fingerlings completed ready for our various farmer groups that have already undergone training in this sector.

48. While most of us consider rabbits to be children’s pets, there is a recent steady growth of rabbit consumption consumption in the Coun County. ty. For this reason, the Department has trained over 3,000 farmers in rabbit production and processing to meet the increasing demand of local supermarkets and restaurants.

49. The

National

Government’s

Ministry

of

Industrialisation

&

Enterprise

Development has identified hides, skins & leather development as one of the key investment areas for our country.

Kenya currently earns approximately Kes 9

Billion from this sector, mostly in unfinished wet blue leather. However, Kiambu 13

 

Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

County farmers earned about only Kes 230 million from this sector. Recognising that finished leather goods account for about 6% of leather exports in Kenya, the Department of Agriculture is advocating for a revitalization of the cottage industries as a step towards the promotion pro motion of job creation in this sector.

50. We have, therefore, invested in the training of 200 cobblers at the Training and Production Centre for Shoe Industry based in Thika and the Kenya Industrial Research Development Institute in Nairobi. The trained youths will serve as contact persons in our sub-counties for our other youths and dealers in leather activities promotion in Kiambu County.

51. As irrigation provides a powerful management tool against the vagaries of rainfall, the County Government has completed three irrigation projects in Mangu Ward, Gatuanyaga Ward and Nyanduma Ward with five more currently ongoing in other wards and several more planned in the upcoming financial year.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members: 

52. I now move on to the state of Transport & Infrastructure Development in our County.

53. Our Department of Roads, Transport & Public Works continues to work under its guiding principal of building top quality roads at the minimum possible cost in an effort to reduce the distance between people, markets and health services across the County.

54. The Department has remained active in the construction of new roads as well as conduct of routine routine maintenance of rural roads across the County. Key highlights

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

include the 15 Kilometer Ndumberi-Githunguri Road whose works are still ongoing with about 8.5 Kilometers of the carriage way being completed to date.

55. Works are also scheduled to commence under a recently awarded Kes 221 million roadworks contract for the conversion of the existing single carriageway on the Kenyatta Highway and roundabout into a dual carriageway upgraded to bitumen standards. Drainage works, street li lighting ghting and beautificatio beautification n also form part of th this is upgrade.

56. Over 114 contracts were targeted for rural access roads across the County, several of which are completed and many of which are currently ongoing. A total of 33 Km have been completed by external contractors and works are currently ongoing on another 103 Km across the County. In order to reduce costs, the C County ounty Government is also undertaking roadworks in-house from materials sourced locally within the County from quarries, Ruiru Sewerage works and various other sites. To date, another 89 kilometers or rural access ro roads ads have been const constructed ructed across 10 sub-counties in this financial year.

57. The Department is also working closely with the World Bank funded Nairobi Metropolitan Services Improvement Project and works are currently ongoing on new roads in Kikuyu, Ruiru and Limuru Sub-Counties. Sub -Counties.

58. Construction of non-motorised transport and pedestrian paths is also underway covering Garissa Road, Kenyatta Highway, Haile Selassie Road and General Kago Road.

Works are also scheduled to commence iin n Kikuyu, Ruiru and Limuru

towns.

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

59. The Department had targeted the construction of three bus parks. Construction has commenced at the Githurai Bus Park while the designs for Kiambu and Juja Bus Parks are ready and procurement for construction scheduled to commence early in the next financial year.

60. The Energy Directorate also falls within the Department of Roads, Transport and Public Works. To this end, the Department is working closely with the World Bank in the installation of 275 street lights using 80Watt energy saving LED across seven urban centres in the County. County. In addition, 11 High Masts of 30 meters and 64 High Masts of 30 meters are also being installed using 200 Watt LED. It is expected that this installations will reduce the power bills by about 50%.

61. The strategic location of the high masts in shopping centres, market centres, hospitals, schools, informal settlements and police stations is aimed at increasing security across the County. The Department also continues to maintain and rrepair epair the existing 139 High Masts and 3,300 street lights across the county to ensure improved lighting lighting for, and enhanced safety of our residents.

The Department

however faces the challenge of proper equipment and have budgeted for a man-lift to fast track repairs of the street lights and high masts in the coming financial year.

62. In collaboration with the Rural Electrification Authority, the Department has finalised the identification of all primary schools not connected to the national grid which should be connected within the next financial y year. ear.

While rural

electrification is now a devolved function, this joint exercise is meant to ensure that the national government’s government’s target of electrifying all primary schools in the Country is indeed realized. As noted by our Head of State in his State of the  Nation Address earlier this year, more primar primary y schools have been connected to the national electricity grid in the last two years than been since independence.

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members: 

63. Last year, I reported that the process of developing the 10-year County Spatial Plan had commenced. I am pleased tto o report that this exercise is now complete and serves as a framework for providing the County with spatial planning instruments in accordance with the provisions of the County Governments Act. This exercise is aimed at strengthening the capacity for effective coordination of all property development within the County. 64. The Department embarked on an audit of poorly developed buildings in selected areas of the County County..

Given tthe he complex nature of the exercise and the historical

ad hoc development hoc development that had been ongoing, the Department increased the number of staff including including development control officers. It has also procured GPS hand held devices which shall be used for purposes of expanding the scope of the audit as well as fast track other survey activities.

65. The Department has also embarked on data capture of all the land use activities in the County. The pilot project for this exercise is currently underway in Thika Town with the assistance of planning students engaged as interns from the Kenya Polytechnic University.

66. A major achievement of this Department is the clearance of all the back log of the  building applications that have delayed construction in the County. One significant intervention has been the approval of all minor applications comprising of Bungalows and Maissonettes at the Sub- county level within 14 days. Comprehensive and major applications shall continue to be processed through the main pre-technical committee which has adopted new stream-lined pre-approval  procedures for development applications. The Planning Technical Committee holds sessions every month to deliberate and approve submitted applications to

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

ensure that we do not have future back-log problems with our planning approval  processes.

67. The Department is also collaborating with the World Bank funded Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Programme, through which two informal settlements Gachagi in Thika Town and Shauri Yako in Kiambu  –   have been identified for various infrastructure upgrades including rroadworks oadworks and street lighting. We are in discussions with the Programme coordinators to so that the scope of Gachagi shall also encompass Umoja area since these seem to be seamless on the groun ground. d. The Department has also received a double-cabin pick-up from the national Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Development to facilitate their work in this programme.

68. Finally, the Department is working closely with UN Habitat to develop a more robust Housing Policy and urban renewal models as well as regularize old developments that were not compliant with planning regulations. As a key source of internal revenue, the streamlining of our land-based revenue sources and  processes remains re mains a high priority for this Department aand nd we anticipate continued support from UN Habitat on this end.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members:

69. My Government has prioritized environmentally sustainable urban development for our People as access to water and sanitation is a fundamental human right and essential to life, health and dignity. As the County continues to experience rapid urbanization, timely and adequate provision of clean water and sanitation services to uprooted people is particularly important, given the vulnerability of their situation. The Department of Environment, Water & Natural Resources has therefore embarked on various initiatives to improve access to water and sanitation amongst the residents of Kiambu. 18

 

Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

70. We recently completed the construction of an elevated 100 cubic meter water tank in Ting’ang’a ward and the distribution distribution of pipe work is on-going. Work has also commenced on the Gitiha water project in Githiga Ward and the project is awaiting connection of electricity by KPLC.

71. The Juja Salama borehole that required the removal of a burnt motor from the  borehole and re-equipping with a new motor is now operational and over 200 families have access to water from this source. Other initiatives include the rehabilitation of the Lussigetti community borehole in Nachu Ward and the rehabilitation of the Mwiki borehole, both of which are now fully operational.

72. In Thogoto, the improvement and rehabilitation of three water tanks, construction of one water tank and a water kiosk was funded through the Water Services Trust Fund. Today, more than 3,000 residents are benefiting from improved water services. The Fund has also financed the Gachie Water Project in Kiambaa with more than 5,000 residents benefiting from this water project.

73. Works are also currently ongoing at the Ondiri Water Project, which, once complete, will serve Gikambura and Karai areas, supplying more than 5,000 residents with safe adequate water.

74. In collaboration with the World Bank and Athi Water Services Board, works are still ongoing at the Ruiru Sewerage Plant with the trunk main sewers, aerobic

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

 ponds and reticulation systems almost complete. Another 70,000 households are expected to benefit from this project.

75. With regards to public sanitation and garbage control, the County recognizes that, with only five registered dumpsites, there is a huge problem in waste management. Several initiatives have therefore been implemented including the development of a Semi-Aerobic Semi-Aerobic Landfill in Thi Thika. ka.

The Ki Kiambu ambu Dumpsite Rehabilitation is

complete and others are presently under rehabilitation and garbage trucks stationed at Gatundu South and Ruiru Sub-Counties have also been rehabilitated to facilitated garbage collection.

76. The Department has constructed several sanitation blocks in Githunguri, Uthiru, Kangangi Market, Githurai Market and Limuru Market sanitation block is complete.

77. It is expected that the coming financial year will see the introduction of a specific  budgetary vote for environment management, increased citizen participation in solid waste management as we finalise the establishment of the Solid Waste Management Authority that will also provide a framework for managing value addition to give garbage economic value and create employment amongst our youth.

Across the globe, garbage is increasingly being viewed as a valuable

source of income, and it is my Government’s hope that we can tap into this resource in the coming year.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members of this Assembly:

78.  Closely linked to matters of water and sanitation, is the issue of the health of our People. A healthy n nation ation is a wealthy nation. The same is true of our County.

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

79. In spite of our rapidly urbanizing status, the County of Kiambu remains largely rural with the bulk of our residents facing a unique combination of factors that create disparities in health care not found in urban areas. Economic factors, cultural and social differences, educational shortcomings, and the sheer isolation of living in remote rural areas, all conspire to impede access to quality healthcare amongst these residents.

80. With these challenges in mind, the Department of Health Services has in this financial year, embarked on an aggressive process of rehabilitating health facilities across the County. We have renovated over 14 health centres, dispensaries and sub-district hospitals and several others have contractors about to take possession of the sites for commencement of rehabilitative works.

81. Another 18 facilities have been targeted for expansion in various wards and we expect to collaborate with the private sector and the donor community, to ensure the rapid roll out of these health facilities.

82. In order to ensure rapid response of our health workers to provide emergency services to our ailing citizens, 9 new ambulances were procured and a further four have undergone refurbishment and been allocated to Kigumo, Ndieya, Lusigetti and Kihara facilities.

83. With the expansion of the new wing at the Thika Level 5, we expect that we shall have a state of the art Maternity and Neo-natal ward completed within the next 24 months.

Mr Speaker and Honourable Members:

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

84. Our children have a special place in the future of this this great County. It is for th this is reason that the Department of Education, Culture & Social Services has placed great emphasis on investing in the improved quality of their early education.

85. In this year, we have completed the refurbishment of 8 ECD centres and four  polytechnics, with works currently ongoing on a further 25 ECD centres and 8  polytechnics. Work on these institutions is expected to be complete in the first quarter of the coming financial year. In addition, we have invested in equipment worth Kes 54 million for the polytechnics, with each establishment receiving equipment worth Kes 1.8 million, resulting in increased enrolment in this last financial year.

86. As part of increasing our People’s literacy levels, the Department has installed library seats and shelves for Githunguri Youth Empowerment Center which is currently in the process of being equipped with necessary literature and library equipment.

The Department has also prioritized equipping a further 5 Youth

Empowerment Centers and construction of more in the sub counties that do not have these centres. With the support of institutions such as Children Internatio International nal Kenya, our children have benefited from a donation of library books worth over Kes 10 million as we seek to improve the reading culture amongst our youth. 87. Following a survey conducted in late 2013, it was established that several children in our County faced severe challenges, key among them being going to school on a hungry stomach. In this last financial year, my Government set aside Kes 30 million towards a feeding programme. Today, 120 of our 477 ECD centres are  beneficiaries of this programme with children being fed nutritious porridge made from flour that contains proteins, vitamins, sugar and carbohydrates. c arbohydrates.

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

88. As part of improving the health of our early learners, the Department has embarked on a regular de-worming programme in collaboration with various  NGOs and the donor community active in the County.

89. With the children fed and more prepared to learn, the Department partnered with IBM in the provision of the Kidsmart ICT learning equipment installed in 65 learning centers and a further further 35 almost complete. It is targeted tthat hat by 2016, the Kidsmart learning equipment will have been installed in 200 centers across the County.

90. With the support of the Honourable Members of this Assembly, the Department successfully implemented the Kiambu County Education Bursary Fund Act and relevant regulations.

To date, a total of Kes 157 million has already been

disbursed to bright and promising young students in the County who have demonstrated financial need to further their education. It is our intention to continue with this noble endeavor to ensure that no child in the County is denied an education on account of the inability to settle school fees.

91. The Department has been very active in gender issues and ensuring the observance of the 30% procurement threshold for women, youth and persons living with disabilities. We have p partnered artnered with the Public Procurement Oversight A Authority uthority in training women and persons living with disabilities in all the twelve sub counties on how to apply for tenders in the County and in the Country. We also  partnered with KIST, in training youth and Women leaders in the twelve sub counties in ICT.

92. In support and recognition of the persons living with disabilities in the County, the Department, in collaboration with Mt. Kenya University, organized Mr & Miss PWLD finals. Speaking at the event, the Chief Officer for Education reiterated the 23

 

Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

County Government’s continued commitment ensuring that the vulnerable members in our Community are able to meet their basic human needs as advocated under Article 43 of the Constitution.

93. My County Government has also been working very closely with the National Gender and Equality commission to ensure that issues of gender are addressed across the Board and our County Executive Member is a member of the Working Group on National Gender-Based Violence.

94. Finally, with the ICT Directorate being housed in this Department, we are proud to have invested heavily in different initiatives that have set us apart in this sector. The Department provides regular, timely and accurate data and information to the other Departments for purposes of policy formulation, planning and evidence based decision making on staffing and development issues. The Department also administers the County Government’s website, Government’s website, manages the Local Area Network and Data Centre at the County Headquarters and has overseen the implementation of the Wide Area Network to ensure that all our Sub-County offices have access to Internet connectivity.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members of the Assembly:

95. The active engagement of our youth in various activities ranging from sport to economic endeavours is instrumental in reducing the crime rate in our County as well as the heightened levels of alcohol consumption that has become rampant across Kenya today.

96. It is for this reason that the Department of Youth & Sports Affairs has embarked on a vigorous campaign to engage our Youth in activities through which they can expend their energy. For sporting purposes, we have completed the rehabilitation 24

 

Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

works of Thika Stadium and the rehabilitation of Kirigiti Stadium is expected to commence in early July 2015.

97. Our Youth have demonstrated excellence across the board in sports with  Kiambu  All Stars Stars   currently participating in the Kenya Premier League Division One League. The County Government of Kiambu participated in the KICOSCA Games in August 2014 and emerged 5th  place place overall. Our men’s Volleyball, Basket Ball, Darts and Ta ble Tennis teams as well as Women’s netball and draughts teams excelled tremendously, with four of these teams proceeding to the East African championships in Kampala.

98. Two youth sponsored by the county government were part of the Kenyan Cycling team that participated participated in Commonwealth Cycling Games held in Botswana. Our Rowing and Canoeing teams were best overall in the country and also participated in the East Africa Rowing and Canoeing Championships in Uganda.

99. Our Thika Queens, also sponsored by the County government emerged 2014 Kenya Premier League Ladies Champions.

Finally, the Kiambu Karate Team

 participated in the East and Central Africa Marshall Arts Championship in South Africa, bringing home 21 medals amongst the team members.

100. 

As we nurture our youth’s sporting talent, we have also chosen to invest in

their economic empowerment. Last year, I stood before y you ou to announce that the County Government had embarked on the establishment of the Youth, Women and Persons with Disabilities Fund. This was successfully launched in October 2014 and successful applicants have undergone a rigourous financial training boot camp last week to ensure they are skilled in basic financial management and soft  business management skills prior to disbursement of funds.

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

101. 

412 people, including 31 groups comprising of youth, women and persons

living with disability, have been identified and trained as beneficiaries for the first disbursement of the fund out of an overwhelming 32,000 applications.

102. 

The current Fund Size is Kes 300 million shillings and this is targeted to

increase by a further Kes 100million in the financial year 2015/2016. Applications were received from various sectors including agri-business, (especially poultry, dairy farming, pig farming), the transport business (specifically boda boda operators) and general retail shops. Beneficiaries of the Fund will be closely monitored and mentored to ensure the optimal success of the Fund, which is a first for any County Government and we are proud to be a leading example to be emulated by other Counties.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members:

103. 

As we encourage our Youth to participate in, and take up new activities to

actively engage in the economy of our County, our Department of Trade, Industry, Tourism and Co-operative Development is actively facilitating the continued investment into our County from the local and international business community.

104. 

To ensure better trading environments for our vendors, we have constructed

and rehabilitated several markets at Githunguri, Gitaru, Limuru, Dagoretti, Karuri amongst others.

With the increasing number of Boda Boda operators in tthe he

County, the Department has also overseen the construction of 60 bodaboda sheds in each ward to centralize passenger collection and drop off points as well as  protect the operators from the vagaries of the weather.

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Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

105. 

The rehabilitation of the  Jua Kali Kali   sheds in Gikambura, Gatuanyaga,

Kiambu, Ruiru and Gatundu North Sub-Counties is complete and our artisans now have better working environments from which to operate.

106. 

The Department is also overseeing the current rehabilitation of Cultural and

Tourism Centres at three major sites within the County such as the 14 Falls-Thika, the Mau Mau Caves; and Ondiri Swamp in Kikuyu. The scope of works for these include landscaping, installation of public toilets, park benches and proper signage with a view to enhancing the recreational experience of our visitors to these sites.

107. 

Charged with oversight of our cooperatives within the County, Department

has overseen the audit of several cooperatives, conducted inspections, registered over 40 new cooperative societies and revived 10 dormant ones.

It has also

invested in the training of cooperative committee staff, and members to increase their governance and management skills.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members of this Assembly, Ladies & Gentlemen:

108. 

There is no doubt that the County Government of Kiambu is on the right

track. A lot has been achieved in these last two y years, ears, and I look forward to the continued collaboration of the two arms of the County Government in the next three years as we seek to meet our development agenda as promised to our People on the Campaign trail. trail. It is our duty to prove to them that th they ey made the right choice.

109. 

Once again, I thank you for the opportunity to address this Assembly and I

commend you in your commitment to the continued prosperity of our County County.. We have several success stories to share with our fellow Kenyans. Let us take every 27

 

Address By H.E. William Kabogo, June 24th, 2015 

opportunity available to amplify these as we continue to advance the transformation of this County.

Together, we move Kiambu County Forward.

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS KIAMBU.

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