SPEECH BY H.E THE GOVERNOR LEE KINYANJUI ON THE CELEBRATION OF THE 54TH JAMHURI DAY HELD AT AFRAHA STADIUM, NAKURU COUNTY ON 12TH DECEMBER 2017.Deputy GovernorCounty Commissioner Hon Elected SenatorHon Nominated SenatorsHon Members of parliamentHon Women RepresentativeHon Speaker of the County AssemblyHon Majority and minority leadersHon Members of County Assembly presentCounty Executives presentCounty Secretary and Head of Public ServiceCounty Security chiefsAll guests invited All the entertainment teamsMembers of 4th EstateDistinguished ladies and gentlemen.Today, we celebrate the day 54 years ago, when we declared Kenya a Repbulic.
I wish to begin by saluting all Nakuru people on this occasion in which we observe the 54thJamhuri Day.
Today, we celebrate our forefathers who laid the foundation on which this nation rests. Equally, we celebrate the youths who have inherited that nation.
Our duty today is to honour the heroism of those who won our liberty by fulfilling their dreams through executing their will. We have a duty to build on their legacy as a government and as individual citizens.
Our forefathers anticipated a Country that enjoys peace as the foundation on which development is anchored. It is because of this that I call upon leaders from the various political divides to uphold national cohesion as our core agenda for the year 2018. We should not continue to divide our people for the sake of fulfilling our selfish interests. Kenya must remain united for prosperity to be achieved.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As a county we have made remarkable progress. Though we are only about 100 days in office, major milestones have been covered especially in conceptualization and planning. A few projects are also at implementation stage. As a government, we are cognizant of the need to make Nakuru the centre of a rising Kenya as we produce jobs and nurture the prosperity our young people need.
In education we plan to employ 1660 ECED teachers in the next 5 years. Initially, 350 teachers will be absorbed on contract basis at the beginning of January 2018. At the moment, the department is also involved in training of stakeholders on the new curriculum for implementation in 2018. In addition, my government aims to develop a new Early Child free Education Programme effective July 2018. This is in line with Section 4 of the Basic Education Act of 2013. My government is also planning to roll out a school feeding programme for ECDE in 2018. This will not only boost the children in terms of their nutritional requirements but will also help keep many children in school. We also plan to partner with the national government in development and construction of new primary and secondary schools in densely populated areas. My government will also support bright but needy students by awarding them with scholarships and other education materials.
In the month of November, we held a stakeholders meeting at Mau Narok with a view to addressing the low school enrolment rate in the area as well as the rising cases of child labour. In the meeting, my governments committed to initiate a Mau Narok Education Trust, a body that will lobby for funding to ensure all bright children from the region remain in school. We acknowledge that education is the key to success and prosperity of our people. On ICT, my government is developing an Integrated Management Information System that will automate revenue collection and hence avail more monies for development purposes besides sealing loopholes that lead to cash pilferage. We also plan to digitize the public service with a view to increasing service delivery through better utilization of our human capital.Ladies and Gentlemen, My Government has prioritized health care for the people of Nakuru. In my first day in office, cognizant of the importance of a healthy populace in making Nakuru a productive and competitive county and concerned by the suffering occasioned by the frequent industrial unrest, I appointed a task force to critically look into the matters ailing the health sector in the county. The task force was to come up with recommendations that would literally get this sector out of the ICU. Today, I am glad to report that the task force was able to deliver on its mandate and that my government is currently implementing the recommendations.
The transformative health agenda and my vision is well articulated in my governments manifesto. Through refurbishment and equipping of our existing health facilities and ensuring adequate supplies of drugs, my government will work towards ensuring access to universal health care. This can only be achieved through a well trained and motivated health work force. Towards this end, we shall continually engage our health workers to address their grievances, ensure timely promotion and rationalize staff distribution.
Emergency care services will be enhanced in order to comply with the constitutional requirement of provision of emergency health services in order to save lives. A vibrant county ambulance service will be put in place and I am pleased to report that the ground has already been laid towards this end. In collaboration with partners, we shall work towards improvement of road safety to reduce accidents and enhance response, evacuation and timely treatment of casualties.
We shall ensure that the trauma centre at our county referral service is completed and commissioned. Working together with the National government, The Trauma Hospital at Salgaa will be prioritized The burden of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) is on the rise. My government will give special attention to NCDs through establishment of a cancer centre and support to the palliative care centre, invest in equipment and technology and capacity building of our specialists. Most importantly, emphasis will be on preventive and promotive services.
Ladies and gentlemen,Public health and sanitation is another key area of focus. My government has already moved to address the solid waste management menace. Together with stakeholders we shall turn around the management of solid waste through recycling and generation of power and other viable products and create employment while at it. Sanitation along our highways will also be addressed through construction of modern public toilets at designated points. Other toilet projects will also be undertaken including the Naivasha project recently launched during the world toilet day.
Medical waste has been a health hazard in our county; I note with satisfaction that a modern microwave incinerator has been installed at the County referral hospital to handle this menace. This is one of a kind equipment and I am proud to note that Nakuru county will be the first in Kenya to commission this state of the art equipment.
Maternal health will also be a priority, through the Beyond Zero program and the Linda mama government initiative. All our mothers will access high quality maternity services across the county. Recently, the new Molo Hospital Maternity wing was completed and there are more on-going projects including the mother child hospital at the county referral hospital.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Trade and Tourism docket has already formulated three bills namely; 1. The Trade Licensing bill 20172. Tourism and Marketing bill 20173. Cooperative Revolving bill 2017Once enacted into law, the Trade Licencing bill will greatly ease doing of business in Nakuru while the Tourism and Marketing bill will enhance marketing of the county as a premier tourist destination. The cooperative revolving fund will enable players in the cooperative movement to grow and contribute to the growth of our economy.
Nakuru County is also planning to hold an investors conference in April 2018. This conference is expected to bring together investors who will boost our two industrial parks in Nakuru County. To this end, the County is in discussions with KELNNVEST and the Kenya Chamber of Commerce on how to actualize this idea.
The County government of Nakuru endeavours to create a conducive environment for investment facilitation through providing and upgrading the necessary infrastructure. We shall also strive to provide the required business development services to the current and potential investors. We have embarked on mapping out our investment opportunities and also our businesses so that we can be able to properly plan and execute facilitation and create an enabling business environment.
Our dream to become an industrial city is still on. My government is in the process of establishing an Agri-city Industrial park in collaboration with Egerton University. A total of 200 acres will be set aside for the same. Recently Nakuru was also involved in the development of the National export strategy that will ensure our investors and traders benefit from issues regarding exports. The Trade docket is also rolling out a program that will see physical markets developed in all our major centres.
On SMEs, the county government plans to offer entrepreneurship training and consultancy on how to access capital. This will be a big boost especially at a time when our national economy is on a downtown.
On Tourism, the department in collaboration with the creative economy has developed a partnership to map cultural tourism sites and the creative talents in our county. This will not only advertise our sites but also make our county tourism more vibrant
La,dies and gentlemen
In my manifesto, I promised to create innovation and technology hubs to tap skills and talents amongst our young people as well as mentor them in business and management. This will ensure that knowledge can be shared; innovation promoted and research outcomes progressed to viable commercial products. This is already being achieved through the Lord Egerton Agri-City.
We remain true to our words that we shall improve the socio-economic welfare of our farmers through value adding their products. This strategy which will be driven by our young people will ensure job creation as well as shield our people from poor prices and exploitation by middle men.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Agriculture is the driver of our local economy. As a government we have given this sector the attention it deserves and we hope to do better in the coming days. To start with, the county government has already done a needs and possible scenarios assessment for the revitalization of the pyrethrum sector with the top management of Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya. We have also initiated strategic collaborations with private and public sector actors in the pyrethrum value chain.
These actors include; KALRO-Molo, KENTAGRA and Highchem Kenya. Nakuru is also in the coming days playing host to a countrywide consultative forum with Governors from all the 18 pyrethrum growing counties.
For the drier areas of Nakuru, we have identified sorghum as a convenient ‘cash crop’ with the end market being the East African Malting Limited. On potatoes and carrots, we are at the formative stages of implementing the 50kg package that will shield our farmers from exploitation by middlemen. In addition, we are holding talks with Tecknoserve and KALRO on scaling up of the potatoes value chain in Nakuru County.
We are also collaborating with KALRO and KEPHIS to roll out a massive avocado and macadamia program in all our sub counties. Currently these crops enjoy attractive prices at the international market. Nakuru County is also hosting the first ever National Fodder Agri-business Conference [14th -15th December 2017]. Our extension services which have been dormant for many years are being revamped and expanded in order to effectively support our farmers.
Ladies and gentlemen,
On dairy farming, my government is expanding the dairy value chain through installation of new milk coolers through a synergistic mechanism that includes both donor and government funding. Capacity development of cooperative societies’ members is already ongoing. Vaccination and artificial insemination [AI] program is being revamped by enhancing the quality of service delivered by service providers. Apiculture [bee keeping] is also being introduced as a livestock development option for our youths’ employment.
The fisheries Sector is also to benefit through fish bulking and market improvement. The Kamere landing beach will be improved to accommodate more fishermen and make the industry more lucrative.My government also promised to address the issue of environmental degradation and waste management. In line with that we have started major works at our Gioto dumpsite that aims at rehabilitation and facelift. This will ensure waste doesn’t get to the nearby road as has been the case. The planned recreation park at the site will also change the site from an eye sore to a public attraction.
The Nyayo peoples’ park and the Naivasha Park are also earmarked for major rehabilitation. Water provision is also being improved as we await the Itare and Chemususu dams to be completed. These two dams will improve water supply in Molo, Njoro, Nakuru town, Rongai, Subukia and Bahati. Recently we have undertaken rehabilitation of the non functional Ogilgei borehole in Mosop ward. In addition, my government has initiated talks with a view to jump starting the rehabilitation and expansion of Kinja dam in Nyandarua county. This dam will be critical in serving the water scarce areas of Naivasha and Gilgil.
Ladies and gentlemen
The role played by the roads infrastructure in social-economic development cannot be underestimated. As a government, we plan to improve our peri-urban roads through light tarmacking as we murram our rural roads to ease access and delivery of products to the markets. The identification and prioritization of these roads is currently at Public Participation phase. We are committed to also partner with other government agencies to make our transport system more efficient.
The Lands department is in the process of developing a Lands Information Management Systems. This timely idea will be complete in three months time and will improve service delivery in our land offices as well as reduce cases of land fraud. The County government has also initiated negotiations with Kenya Railways with the intention of leasing land for public utilities namely; cemetery and bus park. The cemetery land will ease the pressure for burial space currently being experienced at the South Cemetery.
This should give us some temporary relief as we seek for more space in the near future. The bus park will greatly reduce the traffic gridlock currently being experienced in our town as well as create an organized situation within the central business district.
I am happy to announce that Nakuru’s dream of getting an airport is almost being realized. Talks within various arms of national government and county, have reached a critical stage. I will be making a major announcement regarding breakthrough in this area.
Ladies and gentlemen,Nakuru town is designated for elevation to a city status. In order to achieve this goal, we shall soon appoint a dedicated team to guide and fast track the process. I urge all of us to ensure we comply with the necessary requirements for the implementation of this objective. In particular we must start a general awareness on the need to keep our city clean. It is the role of every resident to ensure our neighbourhoods are clean.
As the national government continues to roll out devolution, we request Nakuru residents to seek more engagements with the Governor’s office together with the County assembly in shaping our policies and allocation of resources at the local levels. This is in the spirit of sovereignty that Jamhuri allows us to enjoy.
Finally, as we enter the festive season we would like to request motorists to exercise caution as they drive along our roads. We regret to announce that in the recent past many lives have been lost and many more passengers injured as a result of human error. Lives are precious and must be safeguarded at all costs.
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of my government I wish you a merry Christmas and a prosperous 2018. God bless you.