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Governor Prof. Kivutha Kibwana has told top county officials that they must subscribe to principles of transparency and accountability in the conduct of business to ensure efficient service delivery.

Prof Kibwana said that public servants are accountable to the citizens for their actions and service delivery adding that it is a great privilege to serve the citizens.

He further said that it was no longer business as usual when it comes to service delivery reminding the officers that he had to fulfill his promises to the citizenry which they together with deputy governor  Adelina Mwau committed  to through signing of the performance contract with the people of Makueni

“We must be accountable in our delivering of services to the people of Makueni. Serving our people is a great privilege,” the governor said.

The governor spoke on Tuesday at Maanzoni Lodge in Machakos where the deputy governor they addressed county executive committee members, chief officers and directors during the Kenya Devolution Support Programme workshop.

Prof. Kibwana further noted that there was need for change of the mindsets of the public servants if transformative results were to be attained.

His sentiments were echoed by Mwau who said that officers must strive to ensure that every minute and shilling spent should be accounted for through results

The DG said: “As public servants, we must be able to accountable of the resources entrusted to us and as such we must strive to ensure that every minute and shilling spent is accounted for.”

The three day workshop is geared towards enhancing public service delivery in the county institutions with focus on public financial management, civic education and public participation, monitoring and evaluation, human resource performance, planning and environment mainstreaming.

Governor Kivutha Kibwana on Wednesday flagged off Sh 300 million roads upgrading works to repair feeder roads damaged by heavy rains across the County.

The works involve heavy grading and spot murraming of 60 roads, two in each of the county’s 30 wards.

Speaking at Kalanzoni market center, Kilome constituency, where the exercise was conducted, Prof Kibwana said the county experienced pervasive damage of roads when floods hit, saying his administration will work extra hard to make the damaged roads motorable again.

The governor said the county government will partner with members of parliament to do more roads through co-funding with MPs dedicating a substantial amount from the Constituency Development kitty to this cause.

The county boss praised Kilome MP Eng.Thaddeus Nzambia, who has on various occasions fuelled the county graders and dozers to help in repair of dams and roads within the constituency.

Nzambia, who was present during the commissioning of Kwatuva-Ngiini-Kalanzoni-Kivandini-Mbondoni-Yaitha road said he would work closely with the governor to expedite development and uplift the standard of living.

The constituency is one of those hard hit by floods with many of its roads and several dams washed away.

Roads executive Eng.Sebastian Kyoni has reaffirmed that the grading exercise for all the roads will be complete in the next two or three months.

Deputy governor Adelina Mwau said opening up of the constituency will boost its economic productivity due to its proximity to the Nairobi-Mombasa highway and Nairobi City.

Makueni Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana has told contractors working on county projects that his government will not tolerate any form of corruption and shoddy jobs.

He said the county will deal ruthlessly with staff found engaging in malpractices and urged businessmen awarded contracts to report any extortion attempts by county staff directly to his office.

The governor was speaking at Acacia Hotel in Wote during a meeting with major contractors awarded tenders by the department of roads, transport and infrastructure.

“We will not tolerate incidences of corruption and blackmail. I urge you to report cases of corruption to my office directly. In the past we have been ruthless with corrupt people and even now if we get them we will eject them from the system,”Prof Kibwana said.

He said that they should also report cases of intentional missing files adding that the county government will facilitate contractors to do their jobs and pick their money without any blackmail as long as they have done a good job.

The governor however indicated that the county government has had challenges dealing with some contractors in the past adding that creating a forum where the parties could meet and engage would help address emerging issues.

Said Prof Kibwana:“We have had challenges working with some contractors. It is important to create a platform where we can talk together so that we can understand each other.”

County Secretary Paul Wasanga urged the contractors to employ locals in wards where the contracts are being undertaken as part of the government’s initiative to ensure part of the money goes back to the people.
“When you go to the ground please give some of the jobs to the locals. That way we will get part of the money back to the people.When you do that they will even protect your equipment, ”the CS said.

Roads Executive Committee Member Eng. Sebastian Kyoni who was present warned contractors against sub-letting contracts awarded to them without seeking clearance from the county government.

“When we request full compliance with PMC we urge you to cooperate with us and please don’t compromise the supervision. Where you are required to undertake some tests please comply,” he said.

Finance ECM Mary Kimanzi said the Makueni government has had no problem paying contractors explaining that where paperwork has been properly done payments have been processed in good time.

She however said that drip dropping cash flow and a cumbersome technology has made the process more bureaucratic but added that everything has always been done to ensure payments are processed.

“Because we always work with budget we don’t have a problem paying on time. It is the process that sometimes takes a bit longer,” Ms Kimanzi said

Makueni governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana and his Machakos counterpart Dr Alfred Mutua have publicly reconciled their past political differences promising to work together.

The two who spoke during a funds drive  in aid of Shine Star Secondary school in Makindu said they will work together to develop the community calling on other leaders to join them.

Prof Kibwana and Dr Mutua worked for different political groupings in the last General

Elections forcing them to vigorously campaign against each other.

The Makueni governor who is also the chairman of Wiper party was at the forefront campaigning for Nasa in the region while Dr Mutua who is the Maendeleo Chap Chap leader worked for the ruling Jubilee Party.

It was Dr Mutua who twinkled first extending a public handshake to a willing Prof Kibwana during the event at Makindu sending the crowd into cheers.

“I want to ask Governor Kivutha Kibwana to forgive me for any wrongs I might have committed against him and again request him for a handshake as a sign of unity,” Dr Mutua said

The two governors shook hands with Dr Mutua asking for political forgiveness and vowed to forge a purposeful unity for the betterment of locals.

Prof  Kibwana said that he was in agreement with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka that there was no need for Ukambani leaders to engage in political fights adding that it was time to focus on development.

He further said that as the wiper chairman he had no intentions of blocking Dr Mutua from contesting the presidency in 2022

“As the chairman of Wiper, I am in agreement with our party leader who recently said that we don’t have to fight here at home. I know you are both hunting, we are not blocking anyone,” Prof Kibwana said.

Governor Mutua reiterated that his ambition to contest the presidency in 2022 was on course.

“After 10 years as a governor in Machakos, I will be seeking your support to become President come 2022, just like a student who after form four proceeds to the university,” Dr Mutua said.

Youth, Gender, Culture, Sports and Social Services Chief Officer Jonah Kyathe on Friday urged the national government to devolve children services in order to make it easier to handle their cases effectively at the grassroots.

Kyathe said that counties have no budget  to address children affairs adding that the county only compliments what the national government does because children services are not devolved.

“The budget to manage the affairs of our children is at the national level and as such it is difficult to effectively deal with arising cases  at the grassroots effectively.  Our children are here with us not in Nairobi and we therefore urge the national government to devolved children services,” Kyathe said.

Kyathe who spoke during a stakeholders’ training workshop on sensitization and formation of sub-county child protection committees in Wote observed that most of the children’s cases are not reported because their perpetrators are family members.

He further indicated that many people do not know the relevant authorities to report children cases and called for intense training to members in order to be equipped with relevant information on children cases.

“Most of the children cases go unreported because they are committed by close family members while others are never reported simply because our people do not know where to report such cases. We there need a lot of training on the same,” he added.

The training also  oversaw formation of sub- county children protection committees across the county. The committees will over and above be responsible for detection, response and also address children abuse cases.

The executive committee member for Youth and Gender Dr. Godfrey Makau who also attended the workshop said that the county government was in the process of formulating a county child protection policy to guide the county on matters children.

He further called upon the national government and other key stakeholder to work together towards promoting the rights of children in order to avoid duplicate of roles when addressing the same issue.

“We are in the process of formulating a county child protection policy and we urge the national government to partner with us so that we avoid duplication of roles when we are addressing the same issues of our children,” the ECM said.

His sentiments were echoed by Makueni County Co-coordinator, Children services Celestine Nthiani who was doing a presentation on overview of child protection and the roles of the child protection committees.

“If we need to go far, we need to work together as institutions in order to protect our children who are our future,” Ms. Nthiani observed.

Other officials who graced the training workshop include Jane Makau, County director for gender and representatives from Faith Based Organisations and other non state actors.