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KeNHA to partner with Makueni in revamping road safety measures

The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) is seeking to partner with Makueni in a move to improve road safety measures on all roads that fall within the KeNHA purview in the county.

This was revealed today following a courtesy call by KeNHA Lower Eastern Regional Director Eng. James Kariuki to H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.

Eng. Kariuki said that they were embarking on various interventions towards ensuring that the roads are safer for users in Makueni.

Some of the proposed areas of collaboration include: rolling out tree-planting exercises along the roads, joint solutions regarding traffic issues caused by Matatus parking on the road shoulders, and relocation of traders spreading in road reserves across various market centers.

However, it was observed that the county government should liaise with KeNHA before allocating permits to businesses abutting roadways to ensure that the businesses are viable in view of location and safety

Sensitization of citizens on the importance of protection and preservation of the road asset was also emphasized.

Governor Mutula raised concerns about the increasing deaths of traffic hawkers operating in the towns of Salama, Emali, and Sultan-Hamud among other towns along the Northern corridor section urging KeNHA for immediate intervention to ensure the safety of the traders.

 

Governor Mutula Lauds Thwake dam Construction Progress

H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior has commended the progress made in Thwake Dam construction, which stands at 74 percent to date.

During a tour of the project site in the company of County Commissioner Beverly Opwora on Tuesday, Governor Mutula Jnr expressed confidence that Phase One of the project will be ready for commissioning next year as envisioned by the national Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

H.E Mutula Jnr termed the project as one of the answers to the perpetual water and food stress bedeviling Makueni County. He said the Ministry of Water and Irrigation has given him its commitment for supply of water to Kalawa Ward and Wote town.

The governor also challenged the national government to start planning for the next phases of the project, which include a 20MW hydropower plant, water supply and sanitation as well as the irrigation component.

To ensure skills transfer, the governor put up a request to the contractor for capacity building of the county government’s water personnel in mega water dams construction to scale up their prowess.

 

 

A SITTING WITH COUNTY DRIVERS

On Tuesday 25th October, the Governor H.E Mutula Kilonzo Jnr held a meeting with a section of motor vehicle drivers and machine operators employed by the County Government of Makueni to gain insight into their operations and work environment.

The drivers had an opportunity to speak candidly about their challenges and more importantly their views on how their welfare can be improved through training and promotion of good performers.

The drivers agreed to ensure county assets entrusted to them by the people of Makueni are well handled and maintained for the benefit of the County.

However, the Governor warned against misuse of government vehicles and machineries.

“Recently, I made far reaching changes in the transport department which was plagued by inefficiency, high maintenance and fuel bills. I make it clear that misuse of vehicles and machinery will not be tolerated,” the Governor said.

The meeting ended on a positive note with a commitment to change.

 

Makueni Governor Fetes Music Festival Winners

Makueni Governor H.E Mutula Kilonzo Junior has hailed Makueni students who participated in this year’s National Music Festivals as true ambassadors of our culture, tourism and the ‘Brand Kenya’. The Governor was speaking at an event held at the PWD Centre grounds in Wote, where the students presented the winning choral verses and songs to fellow students and teachers. This was the first time winning teams have been hosted by the County Government in Makueni.
The schools received trophies from the County Government in recognition of their performance at the music festivals that were held in Kisumu recently.
He reiterated the need to nurture the nascent talents and converting them into employable skills after school. The Governor also feted students who represented Kenya in the East African athletics games in triple jump and track events.
The schools that presented their pieces were Mbooni Boys, Makueni Boys, Makueni Girls, Mukaa Girls, Mwaani Girls, AIC Mutongu Primary, Kītī Kyumu Primary and AIC Kathonzweni Primary School. The County Director of Education, Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association and Primary schools associations were all represented.
 

GOVERNOR MEETS ROAD CONTRACTORS

H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior and the Deputy Governor H.E Lucy Mulili today received an update from contractors building roads in parts of Makueni County. The contractors working on the Kikima, Kali, Utangwa, Kyambalasi road, Tawa, Itangini and Emali Nduundune and other roads presented their challenges to the Governor. The main issue is delayed payments from the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA), a National Government agency that oversees development of rural roads in Kenya. The lack of funds has caused delays in completion of the roads.
The contractors emphasized that delayed payments, some of which are two years old have negatively affected them and slowed progress. They expressed commitment to complete the roads if payments are made in good time. The contractors cited the high cost of credit and negative rating from financial institutions due to late loan repayments on credit facilities advanced to the contractors.
H.E the Governor promised that his office would assist in presenting their challenges to the national government to enable them continue to work. The Governor said that as the Chairman of the Council of Governors committee on Legal Affairs and Intergovernmental relations, he would seek a collaborative engagement with the National government to unlock the stalemate. The contractors promised to mobilize their teams to fix problem areas ahead of works to make the roads motorable in the time being.
The County Commissioner Ms Beverly Opwora said that some of the roads lead to security installations and required urgent intervention. The County Commissioner asked traders who have encroached on road reserves to give way for the road contractors.
The contractors prepared the outstanding schedule of payments to seek intervention in settling of their bills. The meeting was attended by Amip Patel from Kabuito Contractors, Geoffery Ndambuki and Ngare Mahinda of Coastal Enterprises, Wan Wengbin of Shengli Engineering, Terene Enterprises, the KERRA Regional Director Eng. Anastasia Ndunda and KERRA Resident Engineers for Emali and Kikima – Kali roads.
 

Governor Mutula flags off Shs 90M Medical Supplies

Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior and KEMSA Chief Executive Officer Terry Ramadhani on Monday flagged off Shs 90M worth of medical supplies for all 238 health facilities in Makueni.
The event took place at the Mother and Child Hospital, Wote, and was also graced by Senator Daniel Maanzo and Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili.
The supply is the Financial Year 2022/2023 quarter one order of health commodities and constitutes of essential and specialist drugs, non-pharmaceuticals and laboratory commodities.
Governor Mutula Jnr said the huge investment in healthcare is geared towards attaining the highest possible health standards in a manner responsive to the Makueni population needs.
The governor said his administration is committed to increasing efficiency in the management of the health commodity supply chain to ensure sustainability and resilience.
“To this end, we intend to enhance health commodity stock visibility through automating inventory management to achieve end-to-end visibility. This shall enable faster turnaround time for quantification, ordering and distribution of health products and technologies to ensure continuous availability,” he said.
To enhance efficiency and effectiveness in healthcare provision, the governor last month commissioned a unique model of operation dubbed Reverse Referral, which entails medical specialists going to the field to offer specialist services in remote facilities.
This, he said, will reduce the pressure at the county refferal hospital and the expenses incurred by residents travelling all the way to Wote.
 

Governor Mutula Orders Specialist Medics to Leave Offices for the Field

Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr has ordered more than 58 medical heads out of their comfortable offices in Wote to offer services to wananchi in local health facilities.
 
Through a programme dubbed Makueni Public Health Week, the medical officers will be required to routinely choose one or more health facilities in the county and camp there for a whole week offering specialized healthcare services.
 
Directors and Medical Superintendents in the Health Services department will lead the campaign and monitor how health services and medicines are dispensed at the facilities.
 
Governor Mutula Jnr said the decision was borne from the realization that the county has a huge number of talented medical specialists whose services are not available to the residents.
 
He said it was pitiful that such specialists operate only from the county headquarters and in offices while residents are forced to seek services elsewhere at exorbitant costs. 
 
The Public Health Week begins on Wednesday 14th September 2022 in Mbooni sub-county.

Makueni, NACADA Agree to a Joint Offensive Against Drug Abuse

National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse(NACADA) has pledged support to Makueni County in dealing with alcoholism and drug abuse which is highly prevalent in the county.
 
During a courtesy call to Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili in her office, Wote, on Monday, NACADA Chief Executive Officer Victor Okioma said the authority will support Makueni in policy and legal frameworks, training of recovery coaches to mentor victims as well as capacity building for the personnel involved in the campaign.
 
Mulili said the County Government is working to establish a recovery centre where victims will be treated and fully rehabilitated.

Makueni County links tech systems with KEMSA to ensure health supplies efficiency.

Makueni County Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr has kicked off efforts to streamline the procurement of health commodities to boost healthcare delivery in the county.
 
The streamlining efforts will involve integrating and enhancing information technology (IT) based systems to power the procurement and distribution of health commodities. 
 
Speaking when he paid a courtesy call to Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) Chief Executive Officer Ms. Terry Ramadhani, Kilonzo Jnr said the county has undertaken to seal all loopholes facilitating loss of health commodities.
 
Based on an immediate needs assessment, the county, he said, has placed a Kshs 30 million order for essential medical supplies with KEMSA. The order comprises Oncology, Renal, surgical and related items, including Laboratory, Radiology, Dental and Linen items.
 
While imploring KEMSA leadership to provide the necessary support, the county, he added, will maintain a prudent just-in-time procurement plan for health supplies to avoid overstocking and stockout scenarios.
 
“In Makueni County, we have committed to providing the best healthcare possible. This cannot be possible if we continue to lose medicines ordered from KEMSA or cannot account for the supplies delivered,” he said. He added, “We have immediate plans to fully integrate our technology systems to provide end-to-end visibility and enhance our procurement planning and budget cycles.”
 
On her part, KEMSA CEO Ms Ramadhani welcomed Makueni County’s commitment to adopt technology systems and confirmed that the Authority is now banking on IT systems in its operations. The county, she said, will be seamlessly linked to the KEMSA Logistics Management Information System (LMIS) and the KEMSA Electronic Proof of Deliveries (e-POD App).
 
She said that by integrating systems, KEMSA and Makueni County would enjoy end-to-end visibility of the pharmaceutical inventories across the health commodities value chain.
 
“The focus by Makueni County to ensure a system-wide assurance of all deliveries from KEMSA is a welcome development. Such systems alignments will allow KEMSA and Makueni county to enjoy mutual integrity assurances and curb losses or financial inefficiencies including overstocking or delayed procurement,” she said. Adding that, “These systems will facilitate better operating information visibility across the supply chain system and contribute to inventory accuracy at the operating levels.” 
 
In the current order placed by Makueni, 240 rural health facilities, and 13 hospitals spread across the county’s six sub-Counties, will receive their supplies next week to boost primary and secondary healthcare goals.

In PICTURES: A 3D architectural impression of the proposed Mukuyuni modern mixed use market set to accommodate over 150 traders in the town.

The proposed market, to be implemented by Wote Municipality, will be funded by the World Bank through the Kenya Urban Support Programme. 
 
Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior and Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili on Friday received the proposed market design for review during a series of other development meetings at the Council of Governors offices in Nairobi.
 
 
The market design has provision for two floors, a cold room, an hybrid solar system, stalls and shops, a drive-through for road users as well as solid waste management. It will also have solar lighting and a 30,000-liters rain water harvesting tank.