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Author: Faith Mumo

70,000M3 Kaiti sand dam targeting 1,200 rural and town households under construction

H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr inspects kaiti sand dam at kwa kitungu, outskirts of Wote town where the County is engaging over 150 people daily in the construction works.
Once complete, the sand dam which has a
Capacity of 70,000 cubic meters, 3metres high and 85 metres long is expected to serve a rural capacity of 1200 Households and also Wote town residents.

Governor Mutula Unveils the Farmer Profiling Exercise in Makueni

Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr together with his Deputy Lucy Mulili on Wednesday officially launched the Agricultural Value Chain profiling exercise, Makueni chapter at ATC- Kwakathoka.

The Agricultural Value Chain profiling is an exercise that is being spearheaded by the National Government in collaboration with the County Governments through the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP) and is seeking to undertake a comprehensive registration of all farmers across the country.

The exercise also seeks to map and register all value chain actors that support farmers such as agro-inputs dealers, aggregators, processors, extension service providers, marketing centers and transporters, among others. This will help the government link farmers to key service providers through digitalized platforms such as e-extension and other e-services.

Makueni has already recruited 504 agri prenures and will embark on the data collection on Friday, and will take 25 days.

Governor Mutula urged the agri preneurs to be keen so as to capture every farmer so that they don’t miss out on important government services.

On her part, Mulili said that the exercise is important for the county government and that the data will be helpful in informed decision making and planning.

Agriculture Executive Joyce Mutua asked the young people to take advantage of the profiling activity and borrow some of the best agriculture practices which they can implement to better their lives.

The launch was also graced by Devolution and Transport Executives Japheth Mang’oka and Eng. Sebastian Kyoni respectively, Muvau-Kikumini Member of County Assembly Elizabeth Mutinda, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperative Development Chief Officer Dr. Victoria Kyalo and NAVCDP County Coordinator Paul Musyimi.

KCDMS, Makueni Drum for Conservative Agriculture

At least 4,000 makueni farmers will benefit from free deep tillage services, ahead of the short rains in a bid to increase agricultural productivity and profitability.
 
USAID funded Feed the Future Kenya Crops and Dairy Market Systems Activity (KCDMS) in conjunction with the county government of Makueni will engage 30 Tractor service providers to offer free deep tillage services among farmers.
Deep tillage popularly known as conservative agriculture is a climate adoption methodology where farmers are encouraged to use chisel plough/sub soiler instead of the convectional disc plough.
 
This offer will run for one month before the short rains commence in October and it acts as an incentive to farmers to adopt these practices by providing them with cost-effective solutions that can significantly improve soil health and crop yield.
 
Makueni County Agriculture and Irrigation Chief Officer Daniel Ndolo and KCDMS Senior Technical Advisor  Brenda Aluda on Monday flagged off a 2-day deep tillage campaign to sensitize farmers on conservative agriculture.
Aluda noted that over the last seasons farmers in the region have been reaping low farm produce as a result of drought that had hit the area due to climate change. 
 
“The reason why we are focusing today on soil and water conservation measures is because Makueni, Kitui and Taita Taveta have experienced drought due to climate change in the past two seasons and with insufficient water farmers have been reaping little farm produce,” said Aluda.
 
Ndolo on his part called on farmers to take advantage of the free deep tillage services and adopt conservative Agriculture for increased yield and food security at the household level.

Medtronic Labs, WHO foundation to work with Makueni in scaling up fight against NCDs

Medtronic Labs which has been piloting innovative digital health solutions to improve primary health care delivery for Non –communicable diseases (NCDs) on Monday paid a courtesy call to Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr, giving brief on their NCD support programs- Afya Dumu and Afya Kijijini.
Medtronic Labs, WHO foundation will work with Makueni to scale up NCD care, strengthen digital documentation and reporting systems, resource mobilization, and provide technological support for the innovative digital health solution (SPICE) suite.
Emmanuel Capobianco from WHO Foundation assured of invigorating all existing NCD programs in the County in financing Primary Health Care on NCDs through Medtronic Labs. Medtronic Labs was represented by Dr. Jesse Njunguru, Head of program Operations-Africa and Urbanus Musyoki, Programs operations lead-Makueni.
Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr said the phenomena causes deaths and disabilities which can be prevented by prioritizing early screening through increased outreach programs.
“Diabetes and hypertension is leading in the County. We must be able to explore ways of expanding specialist care for NCD clients which is mostly affecting the aged. We also need to have NCD corners established in our health facilities,” said Mutula
 

The 5-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) renewed between Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr and Alberta Wambua- Executive director-GVRC

In a significant step towards enhancing support for persons with Disabilities and prevention programs on Gender based violence, Makueni has renewed its partnership with the Gender Violence Recovery Centre; Nairobi Women’s Hospital.
The 5-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) renewed between Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr and Alberta Wambua- Executive director-GVRC, will ensure the two parties work together towards resource mobilization, technical coordination, primary prevention and response programs.
Also, Governor Mutula signed an MOU with the Light For The World organization (LFTW) to boost agri-business and skills development among Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
The LFTW is implementing the “We Can Work Project” with an aim of upskilling young persons enabled differently in pursuit of acquisition of dignified work.

Wote, 30th August 2023-Makueni’s indigenous knowledge patented for profits

Days after the National Museum of Kenya through the National Product Initiative (NPI) in partnership with the Government of Makueni County rolled out the Indigenous Knowledge Documentation and Digitization (IK DODI) pilot project, the team has today handed over the project report to H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr during a courtesy call.
The one-month documentation exercise brought together the Akamba clans Governing Council of Elders, Young Champions of Culture and the community members who volunteered information as informants.
The project was successful and the Young Champions of Culture were able to collect assets that the County Government plans to package and valorise through taking them to the market and ensure the community benefits.
The governor was taken through the Makueni County Indigenous Knowledge Innovation Bank which will be the quiver from which the community shall store their cultural knowledge in two categories of Cultural Expression and Genetic Resource.

Makueni, ADS-Kenya Ink a Deal to Enhance Employability for Women and Youth in Agriculture

At least 600 youth and women from Makueni will benefit from Green Business Project (GBP), courtesy of a 1-year deal signed on Wednesday by Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr and  Anglican Development Services Kenya (Ads Kenya) Programs Manager Charles Macharia.
The purpose of the GBP is to create economic opportunities and enhance employability for Youth and Women of productive age through green skills and capacity development along the target value chains namely horticulture, dairy and poultry.
The youth beneficiaries will be trained at ATC-Kwakathoka for a period of 3 months and placed on attachment thereafter for 3 months at the same center. The women-organized groups will participate in field-based training. This will be preceded by a competitive recruitment process.
After successful training and assessment, successful beneficiaries will partially be supported with start-up capital.
The signing of the partnership was witnessed by Agriculture Executive Mrs Joyce Mutua and ADS-Kenya Programs Officer Sophia Gakii.

Top relief to locals as Kiou Top Dispensery is commissioned

Celebratory mood has engulfed villages of Kiou Top, Kwa Katiku, Kiuwani, Yoani, Muambwani, Inyenyoni, Masive, Ndumbini and Kwa Mukuyu in Kasikeu, Kilome after H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr commissioned a new dispensary in the area.
While commissioning the facility, the governor acknowledged the existence of community Health workers promising to continue creating better working conditions for them.
He assured the community members that the urgency of health facilities being closer to the people to be core in his government.

Over 1,500 to benefit from Kisaulu water project

Kisaulu borehole in Lumu sub-location, Muani, Kasikeu ward, Kilome Sub-county which the County has developed a centralised reticulation system will be serving over 1,500 people, Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr has announced.
This phase 4 of the project will have enough water supplied to Kandolo area, and Lumu dispensary.
The locals will have water sold to them at sh. 3/20L Jerican which the residents proposed during the commissioning.

GOVERNOR OFFICIATES SUPERIOR HOMES GROUND-BREAKING CEREMONY FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF KSHS 350 MILLION TRUCKSTOP ZONE

Superior Homes Kenya has today broken ground for the construction of a KSHS 350 million modern roadside stopover complex at Sultan Hamud town along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway that will provide all-in-one safe and secure resting points for long-distance truck drivers; thanks to Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr efforts of wooing investors into the County.
Dubbed Supastop, the truck drivers stop will feature modern amenities for long-distance transit drivers, including safe and secure parking, fuel station, decent and affordable accommodation, a variety of affordable eateries, convenience stores, clean restrooms, clean showers, prayer rooms, and a health facility, all in one development. Supastop will also offer other services including truck and other vehicle maintenance and repair, driver training, and logistics services.
Superior Homes intends to tap into the market gap of inadequate and informal truck stop facilities in Kenya by providing self-contained service & rest point areas to truck drivers along the various transit routes within the country, with the development at Sultan Hamud being the pilot for a further 30 proposed locations along the Northern Corridor.
Sultan Hamud is identified as a major parking spot for long-distance trucks with an estimated 300 trucks parking along the roadside every night. It is the center of a 145 km stretch between Mtito Andei and Salama but has been lacking decent accommodation facilities for long-distance transit drivers.
Speaking at the launch ceremony Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr commended Superior Homes Kenya for the timely and innovative initiative that will also help address the issue of driver fatigue – one of the biggest causes of road accidents.
“One of the biggest causes of road accidents is driver fatigue. When you offer long-distance transit drivers a secure parking spot, decent and affordable accommodation that will be a way of ensuring road safety,” the governor said
He continued, “Initiatives like this will always get our support and we encourage other players to join in implementing such long-term initiatives that are key in boosting the growth of Makueni County and the logistics industry at large,”.