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Month: July 2018

DG leads negotiations with Israeli global solar firm

Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau has said Makueni County has greater potential in solar energy that remains an attraction to  investors in the green energy sector.

Mwau who met a top Israeli green energy investor the CEO of Gigawatts Global Mr Yosef Abramowitz  in Nairobi on Thursday said that despite the potential, most households in Makueni  County remained unlit with electricity cost  too prohibitive for the locals.

Mwau said the county has opened doors to potential investors showing interest in solar harvesting in the area adding that the  county’s 10 hours of sunshine a day could be turned into a blessing through solar harvesting initiatives.

“Our county has not benefitted majorly from the national government’s  rural electrification plan.This could be the way out. It could help us get power and facilitate the lighting of the Makueni villages,”Mwau said.

Speaking during the meeting Mr Abramowitz said Gigawatts Global is interested in potential partnership  in the energy related areas.

He said his organisation is a leader in green energy installations around the world and that the company has successfully ventured in Africa adding that any initiative in Makueni will be supported.

“We are open to any working relationship with Makueni county.We are impressed by the strong governance credentials shown by the county government.It shows it will be very easy for us to work with you,”Mr Abramowitz said.

Transport ECM Sebastian Kyoni who was also present said the county is ready to work with Gigawatts Global once they are ready to make a move.

“We have the capacity to host a major solar power investment.If Gigawatts makes a move we will partner with them,” he said.

Taita Taveta County Officials in Makueni to learn new tricks

A delegation from Taita Taveta county government on Tuesday started a two-day tour of Makueni County to study the climate change policy and the implementation of sand conservation and utilization.

The Taita Taveta Deputy Governor Majala Mlaghui who is the leader of the delegation said her team was visiting to study the milestones achieved by Makueni County in climate change, sand conservation and utilization policy enactment and implementation.

She is accompanied by various government officials and MCAs who are members of the departmental committee on water.

She said that Taita Taveta has since banned commercial sand harvesting and wishes to borrow from Makueni experience to implement the ban. Makueni banned sand harvesting in 2013.

Makueni deputy governor Adelina Mwau who received the team noted that there was need for the creation of an economic bloc that constitutes Taita Taveta, Makueni, Machakos, Kajiado and Kitui counties who would stand up and fight illegal sand harvesting jointly.

“Illegal sand harvesting has been a nightmare to us and that is the reason governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana and I decided to ban the activity in 2013.Although we have had challenges our strategy of coming up with sand regulations has curbed the menace,” Mwau said

Prof Kibwana who also met members of the delegation noted that the illegal business had attracted social problems in the community like drug abuse, prostitution among others before he decided to ban sand scooping.

The governor said that the move was driven by the motivation to protect the sources of water as many of the rivers had been depleted.

‘’We were pushed by the urge to save our rivers, the youth who were practicing the illegal sand business and more so moving towards sustainable sand harvesting, “said Prof Kibwana.

He said that counties must aspire to work together with the county assemblies for development progress.

  • July 24, 2018 in News

100 young people graduate in “Man Enough” program

Over 100 youth on Friday graduated from a youth empowerment training program dubbed “Man Enough” courtesy of partnership between the county government of Makueni and Transform Nations.

The initiative sought to equip the young men with life skills and prepare them as leaders in the family, the church and the community for national transformation through personal change.

Makueni governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana who officiated in the graduation ceremony at ATC, Kwa Kathoka challenged the youth to implement the skills they had acquired during the three weeks training saying that transformation of a nation starts with change of an individual.

“I urge you to implement what you have gained from this training and let the change be real. A community transforms itself when all its people are transformed,” Prof Kibwana said.

He further urged the youth to be agents of change in the society saying that they are the mustard seeds of transformation in the county and the nation at large.

Pastor Simon Mbevi, the founder of Transform Nations lauded the county for rolling out such a life transforming initiative saying that it was the first county to implement such a program.

“I would like to appreciate Makueni for being the first county to roll out this kind of a program and also thank the governor for the passion that he has for the young people of this county,” Pastor Mbevi stated.

Currently the county government, as a way of empowering the youth, is facilitating a youth driven initiative dubbed M-YES, a program that provides a platform for them to solve issues affecting their lives.

Other county officials who graced the ceremony included the acting executive committee member for Youth, Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services Dr Naomi Makau and the department’s chief officer Jonah Kyathe.

  • July 13, 2018 in News

Five of 21 Suspects Linked to The Defilement Case of A 15-Year Old Pupil Transferred to Different Law Courts

Kilungu law courts senior resident magistrate Charles Mayamba has this morning referred five of the 21 suspects who allegedly defiled a 15-year-old pupil in Ilima Ward to different law courts within Makueni County.

Mathew Mumbu, a primary school teacher will on 24th of July 2018 be arraigned in Makindu law courts for the mention while Paul Musau, will have his case mentioned on 26th of this month at Tawa law courts.
Mayamba reported that his decision was arrived at from his previous ruling on the same case where he convicted a man for a life sentence.

‘’It would be detrimental and against the tenets of Justice for me to continue with these cases owing to documented opinion in my judgement in the other cases’’ he said.

Last month the magistrate also convicted a 30-year-old for 80 years in prison for defiling his five-year-old daughter.

Thirteen other suspects accused of defiling the class six pupil on different dates between February and May are still at large and the police are looking for them.
Fida Kenya sent two lawyers to give legal support to the complainant’s case.

Deputy governor Adelina Mwau who has been following the case keenly sat through the proceedings and expressed her satisfaction in the way the case is being handled.

She said that in the past, for years such cases were catching dust under magistrates’ watch while perpetrators roomed free.

‘’We have lost evidence in many cases without proper explanation but we are now registering our satisfaction in the way defilement cases are being handled in Makueni,” Mwau noted.

Kenyatta lonely in war against graft: Kibwana

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s battle against corruption is lonely and requires good company to sustain if the war against the vice was to be won.

Makueni County Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana on Monday urged the church to join the President in his war against graft, warning their silence and lack of support is making it a lone range mission against a combative network of corrupt individuals and groups that fight back together.

Prof Kibwana who was addressing Anglican Bishops at the Wholesome Governance Conference held at the St. Paul’s University, Limuru said the battle the President was wading into was isolating and therefore the support and backing of the church and other like- minded persons was crucial.

“I am sure the President is very lonely because corruption fights back. He needs company,” Prof Kibwana told the bishops attending the workshop.

The governor said it was difficult to develop if all the money collected as revenue is stolen by heartless cartels.

“The clergy should approach the President and lend support on war on corruption. The church can help devise ways of fighting it. The President wants to fight it but the war is huge,” Prof Kibwana said.

Negative ethnicity and the youth marginalisation, Prof Kibwana noted are among key issues the church should look into in order to help spur development in the country.

“People should know that we are all children of God. It doesn’t matter whether one is Kikuyu, Kamba, Luo or Kalenjin. This negative ethnicity is dividing our country. The church should come in and save us,” the governor added.

He however hailed the church for playing a crucial role in mediating when Makueni county executive went into a quarrel with the county assembly in 2013.

The ACK Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit praised Prof Kibwana for being an achiever in the implementation of devolution and for ensuring good manners in management of resources in his county.

“Many people have praised the manner in which you stood against blackmail in your county and defended devolution in the last term and the kind of development you are bringing,” The ACK leader said.

The Archbishop said that the church should play a more visible oversight role in order to tame wanton corruption and plunder of public resources.

“It is important that devolution is safeguarded and cascaded further to the village if not the household level without wastage of scarce resources,” the Bishop stated.

  • July 9, 2018 in News

Mwau in meeting with women leaders to strategize on stemming children rights abuses

Makueni women leaders on Friday  held a consultative meeting to brainstorm on strengthening coordination, response and prevention of children rights violation.

The forum convened by the Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau brought together women County Executive Committee Members,MCAs,Chief Officers,Sub County Administrators and officials from the Maendeleo ya Wanawake organization.

Mwau asked members of the County Assembly to pass child protection policies that will soon be proposed by the executive and forwarded to the assembly for consideration.

“I want to urge the members of the county assembly in Makueni to pass Bills on child protection policies that the executive brings forward,”She said.

The DG who was speaking at the Hunters lodge in Makindu also said that a gender recovery center is also being set up at the Makueni level 4 hospital.

The deputy governor also urged the women leaders to sensitize the local residents to bring out social needs during county public participation for budgeting.

“Water and roads are very important to our lives, but most of the parents cannot afford sanitary towels for their children.So some are enticed into immorality to survive We can budget as a county and save our girls,’’ She said.

Mwau promised to consolidate both the county assembly and the executive so that they create awareness in the society.

“During our public participation  barazas this will be top in the list as we talk development,’’ She said.

The DG also proposed that the ministry of education trains the county ECDE teachers and the training programme be included in their performance appraisals.

She said that ECDE teachers mingle a lot with the baby class pupils whose rights gets violated in most cases.and they go silent on it.

Equality Now campaigns officer Florence Machio who was the facilitator urged the leaders to bring teachers and parents on board,saying that in most cases they are the first people to discover rights abuses against children.

“If teachers and parents are left out in this discussion, we will not have solved the delinquent matter. They need to know steps they need to take in case children are sexually abused’’ She said.

Machio said that corruption sometimes hinders the process, accusing some doctors of receiving bribes from the perpetrators to kill the evidence.

“She pleaded with the county government to create avenues in schools where proper structures can be put in place so that the children can highlight their plight freely.

Janet Kitung’a,a nominated MCA said she has been pushing to have members of the county assembly represented in the Court users committee for public participation in judicial processes.

According to the children’s officer in the county Ms Evelyn Kaluki, Makueni law court in Wote reported 22 cases of defilement, four incest cases and five rape cases to girls over eighteen years old but still in school in 2017.

In 2018 from January to June already 13 defilement cases  have been reported.

Kibwana receives Kibwezi land from Nairobi firm

Makueni County government on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Dwa Estate Limited to transfer to the County Government a portion of land for the benefit of the local community.

The MoU was signed by Makueni Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana, who was accompanied by the Executive Committee Member for Lands and physical planning Joshua Wambua and Dwa Estate Limited managing director Neil Cuthbert at Nairobi.

The piece of land approximately 25 acres located between the existing PCEA church, the old railway line and the Kibwezi – Kitui road will now be accessed and used by the county after the company granted it a license.

According to Prof Kibwana, the land will be used to improve the ability of the local population to enhance their economic productivity so as to increase income and provide employment opportunities to the local community.

“The land donated to us will improve the economy of our people as well as provide job opportunities to them,” said the governor.

Kibwana urges counties to embrace volunteerism

County governments have been urged to promote volunteerism in order to engage a huge chunk of jobless young people who could gain experience by offering services probono.

Makueni Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana said that time has come to introduce the culture of volunteerism in Kenya as away of tapping the human resource that may be required by governments to deliver certain crucial services but which due to lack of resources cannot be fully engaged.

He said though the Kenyan society has been practising volunteerism the idea is yet to be fully entrenched in the society for the benefit of both the people and the governments.

“Even in the 60s people volunteered to fight for independence.In the 80s and 90s in this country Professionals volunteered time to help us develop our 2010 constitution,”Prof Kibwana said when he made his opening remarks during the African Probono Volunteerism Conference at the Boma hotel on Wednesday.

The governor said that his government has embraced volunteerism by initiating an annual recruitment drive for graduate interns who are allowed to work for the county for at least six months.

“When we came to government in 2013 we decided that volunteerism is important.We initiated an internship, mentor ship and volunteerism programmers,bringing on board graduates who are not salaried to work in various departments,”he said.

The governor said that his government is also dependent on local professionals who always come in to give support and offer solutions to problems affecting the county.

Prof Kibwana who was the chief guest at the event said governments have a heavy burden of having to deliver services to the people but sometimes lack the capacity to do so.

“I think and everyone knows that governments cannot provide and supply all that we need.That is why volunteerism is important.We should encourage our people to embrace the idea of probono movement,”Prof Kibwana stated.

Standard Group Chief Executive Officer Orlando Lyomu who also attended the event said the media has a major role to play in supporting the breeding of volunteerism.

“We need to ensure the role of the media is not just about recording but encourage development of volunteers and their breeding,”Mr Lyomu said.

Japanese International Corporation Agency  (Jica) Senior Representative Katsuya Kuge said Japan supported the voluntary initiatives in Kenya through Jica dispatch program.

  • July 4, 2018 in News