Partnerships

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.

RESOLUTION OF THE INTRODUCTORY MEETING WITH DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS ON 23rd SEPTEMBER 2022 AT PANARI HOTEL, NAIROBI

During the introductory meeting between the Government of Makueni County and Development Partners working in the county, the following resolutions were agreed upon;

1. The county government will establish a County Development Partners Caucus to facilitate periodic engagement between the county government and the development partners.

2. The county government will work to strengthen the Sector Working Groups and establish Development Partners Sector Working Groups and ensure development partners working in the respective sectors engage periodically

3. That the there is need to enhance the capacity of the County Assembly on the policy making process and setting legislative agenda since the development outcomes will be impacted by the policy and legislative agenda in place.

4. The county government will work with the development partners to develop joint project proposals for fundraising.

5. The county government and the development partners will work together in the preparation of the third generation of the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP 2023 -27) and integrate the development partner’s priorities in the county development agenda.

6. The county government will establish cost-sharing and sustainability mechanisms to ensure initiatives by development partners are sustainable after phasing off.

7. The county government commits to support and reengineer the cooperative movement as a vehicle for socio-economic transformation through forward and backward linkages in various sectors.

8. The county government will work with the development partners to strengthen devolution to ensure further decentralization of services to the lowest level and deepening community public participation model.

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.

HAPA KAZI TU!

Wote Municipality is set for exponential growth with more devolved functions and resources to offer services.

In an introductory meeting between the Municipality Board and the new Governor H.E Mutula Kilonzo Jnr, Monday, a consensus was reached to transfer all the necessary functions from the County Government to the Municipality and the requisite resources to follow those functions.

Gazettement of the functions to be transferred to the Municipality is expected to be done within this month.

Governor Kilonzo Junior also met officials from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for a planning meeting on Digital Land Governance Programme.

The programme, funded by European Union and FAO is geared towards improved food and nutrition security, livelihoods and sustainable development through equitable and secure access and management of land.

This will be achieved through:

Enhanced efficient and effective land governance through the digitization and digitalization of land records and processes.
Improved conflicts and disputes resolution mechanisms on land and natural resources.
Improved and inclusive policy, legal and institutional frameworks

UCM partnership with SEKEB focuses on education and workforce development

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The University of Central Missouri is partnering with the Government of Makueni County-Kenya, a member of the South Eastern Kenya Economic Bloc (SEKEB), and Global Classroom Exchange (GCE) to enhance international workforce development and education opportunities.

The unique collaboration includes UCM, the Government of Makueni County-Kenya, the Economic Bloc and Global Classroom Exchange. The partnership officially launched at a Jan. 8, 2021, virtual signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding. MOU signers included the Governor of Makueni County, H.E. Professor Kivutha Kibwana; Dr. Phil Bridgmon, UCM provost and vice president for Academic Affairs; Dr. Laurel Hogue, vice provost for UCM Extended Studies; and John Musau, founder and CEO of Global Classroom Exchange.

Through the partnership, UCM Extended Studies will work with the university’s Kenyan peers on education, entrepreneurship and workforce development. The partners are leveraging technology to foster global collaboration in resolving local challenges. These organizations are working together to develop real-world sustainable solutions for students and adults. Students from Kenya and the United States will also gain hands-on experiences in areas such as Internet of Things, virtual reality, telehealth and entrepreneurship while working on industry-recognized certifications and accelerated degree programs.

The partnership’s foundation began in 2019 with Summit Technology Academy (Lee’s Summit R-7 School District) meeting virtually with students in Kenya to become acquainted and begin planning their combined efforts. During fall 2019, Kenya Governor Kivutha Kibwana and a delegation from Kenya visited Lee’s Summit to tour the Missouri Innovation Campus and meet with officials from UCM and Summit Technology Academy.

This new partnership has benefited significantly from the involvement of Digloso Ltd, a company focusing on providing emerging populations with technological infrastructure and modular application platforms. Digloso is headquartered in Kenya.

Want to become involved?

Business, individuals and organizations have the opportunity to collaborate in the project, which is actively seeking partners to help with solutions. For more information, contact Joe Mullins at jmullins@ucmo.edu or Dr. Laurel Hogue at lhogue@ucmo.edu.

Components of the partnership

Leveraging technology to enhance academic learning
Developing career pathways with joint workforce programs for global markets
Establishing UCM dual credit and concurrent programs with Makueni County-Kenya
Providing students with opportunities to gain hands-on experiences in areas such as Internet of Things, virtual reality, telehealth and entrepreneurship while also working on industry-recognized certifications and accelerated degree programs
Focusing on meaningful collaboration and project-based learning.

What the partners are saying

“The Makueni Innovation Centre will provide an avenue for young people within the County, the SEKEB Region and beyond to develop skills and innovations that are necessary in creating an economic ecosystem,” said said the governor of Makueni County, Hon. Professor Kivutha Kibwana. “Unemployment is a major challenge in Kenya, especially among the youth, and I believe the experience they will receive through this partnership will create employment opportunities for them.”

“Today is the result of a lot of work and collaboration, and we are really excited about the work ahead,” said Dr. Laurel Hogue, vice provost for UCM Extended Studies, during the virtual MOU signing.

“We talk about having borders, and we talk about creating opportunities and sometimes those two don’t go hand-in-hand,” said John Musau, founder and CEO of Global Classroom Exchange. “I feel this is one opportunity for us to make a difference.”

“This is an important engagement in workforce development that will provide career pathways in an area that is growing and emerging,” said Dr. Phil Bridgmon, UCM provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

About the partners

The University of Central Missouri operates campuses in Lee’s Summit and Warrensburg, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as certificate programs, professional education courses and customized corporate curriculum. UCM and Summit Technology Academy have shared space and resources in the award-winning Missouri Innovation Campus facility since its opening in fall 2017.
The South Eastern Kenya Economic Bloc includes three counties: Kitui, Machakos and Makueni with a combined estimated population of 4.7 million. The Bloc was created to provide social and economic development for its citizens.
Global Classroom Exchange is the CSR arm of Digloso, a company focusing on providing emerging populations with technological infrastructure and modular applications platforms. Digloso’s founder and CEO John Musau is a native of Kenya with the company’s headquarters located in Machakos, Kenya.

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Makueni eyes solar energy to power its installations

Makueni County has entered into a partnership agreement with GIGAWATT Global, a developer and supplier of renewable energy installations, to install solar power generators at agreed upon facilities.

The goal of this project, governor Kivutha Kibwana says, is to provide cheap, reliable and clean energy to power public installations and later markets and villages not connected to the national power grid.

Ultimately, the collaboration will lead to development of a 40MW solar project to bridge the energy supply gap in the county.

Governor Kibwana was upbeat that this will revamp the local economy and create great opportunities especially for young people.

Some of the institutions targeted for connectivity include: Makueni Fruit Processing Plant, Makindu Grain Processing Plant, health facilities, learning institutions as well as water distributions points.

The agreement was signed by Governor Kibwana and the Chief Executive Officer GIGAWATT GLOBAL Mr. Josef Abramowitz in Nairobi on Tuesday.

MAKUENI NOW A MEMBER OF OGP

Makueni has officially joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP)- a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from national and sub-national governments to promote open government, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.

In view of the above, the county government makes the following critical Co-creation Plans:

✓ The County Government plans to enhance transparency on company ownership through disclosure of information on beneficial ownership as one of its key anti-corruption measures.

✓ Further, GMC plans to implement phase III of open contracting data standards that will include project monitoring and evaluation. This gives an opportunity to the community to interact with projects/programs and provide timely feedback for action and improvement. Consequently, this will lead to value for money on all projects/programs and sustainability thereof.

✓ In addition, as part of its fiscal openness and in order to enhance transparency, GMC has put measures in place to publish final audit and public service performance reports. Going forward, the government plans to encourage the public to interrogate the reports during our open forums. We are also working on providing geographical information of all county projects.

Ukambani governors hold first SEKEB Summit meeting

The three Ukambani governors; Kivutha Kibwana, Alfred Mutua and Charity Ngilu on Tuesday held the first ordinary summit meeting of the South-Eastern Kenya Economic Bloc (SEKEB) in Machakos.

Top on the agenda of the meeting was development of modalities to enhance Inter-county trade, identification of priority programs/projects of the bloc, marketing of the bloc as a key investment zone, infrastructure development to expand interconnectivity of the region for ease of doing business and movement of people.

The three leaders agreed to establish a technical committee comprising of trade CECs as well as create a cabinet portfolio from each county to drive the agenda of the bloc.

Governor Kibwana said the bloc is eyeing KES 4 billion grant from the Global Climate Fund which if approved will fund several mega dams in the region, besides funding climate smart agricultural projects.

Governor Mutua said the three of them have agreed to create the proper political environment that drives genuine development and rolling back of the poverty ravaging the region.

Ngilu on her part was upbeat that the region is rich in resources which if well tapped can create 60,000 jobs per year.

Co-operative Bank seeks Makueni Partnership in Support of Devolution

The Co-operative Bank of Kenya wants to support devolution locally by supporting Makueni towards realizing its general development agenda to the residents.

This was disclosed by the Bank’s Head of Government and Public Sector Banking Silvance Nono on Tuesday when he led a team of representatives from the bank for a breakfast meeting with Governor Kivutha Kibwana to discuss possible areas of partnership.

According to Nono, the bank fits into the key aspirations of Makueni county in the following areas;

Agriculture and Food Security; to provide wide range agribusiness support for major valued horticultural crops in the county;

Water and Irrigation; to support the various initiatives for water harvesting as well as revenue collection for Wote Water and Sewerage Company;

Youth and women support; to provide banking solutions geared towards economic empowerment;

Quality and Accessible Health services; to provide revenue collection solutions for the county’s health facilities;

Quality Education; through provision of cash management services for the ECDE centers and TVETs; and

Economic Empowerment; through integration of co-operatives to encourage cohesion and self-reliance through pooled savings and training on financial awareness through the Co-op Bank Consultancy arm.

The Bank is supporting the county in the scholarships program and has so far sponsored 30 bright students from needy backgrounds in the County.

A technical team drawn from the parties will meet next week to finalise on the specific joint framework of working together.