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Tree Planting Initiative

Following the deputy governor’s tree planting initiative on 12th November 2013, the Makueni County department of Lands, Urban Planning Launched a tree-planting drive that seeks to plant one tree for each of the 884,527 residents of Makueni County with Hon. Adelina Mwau on the lead.

One of the initiatives towards achieving this objective is dubbed ‘Each Pupil Tree’ (E-PAT), targeting the 276,000 primary school pupils in the county. We have supplied a seedling for each primary school pupil, and we expect that with the support and supervision of their teachers they will tend these trees till they grow and mature.In her speech at all the schools she visited the Deputy Governor emphasized that the progress of the trees will be monitored from time to time, and after a while award the schools with the highest survival rate as well as the pupils whose trees will be the best will be awarded.

Among the schools Hon Adelina Mwau visited with the CEM Lands, Urban Planning, CEM Education and MCA Vaati, include, Utaati Primary School-Makueni District, Katitu Primary School in Kilungu District and Enzai Primary School in Mukaa District

“Keeping Girls in School-Ending the Period of Shame”

The 1st Lady of Makueni County in collaboration with the Office of the Deputy Governor, the Ministry of Gender, Youth & Social Services and the Ministry of Education and Civic Education is spearheading the initiative: “Keeping Girls in School-Ending the Period of Shame” in ten (10) pilot primary schools in six Sub-counties.The broad objective of this project is to provide sanitary towels and underwear to needy school girls from disadvantaged families in Makueni County.

The first annual 1st Lady’s Fundraising Dinner for Sanitary Towels was held on Friday 30th 2014 at Kusyombunguo Hotel in Makueni. We also conducted psychoeducation and community health trainings for parents and teachers in 10 pilot schools in all the six sub-counties in Makueni.The official launch of “Keeping Girls in School-Ending the Period of Shame”project will take place on Monday June 16th at Kikongooni Primary School in Kaiti Sub-county as we also celebrate the Day of the African Child Celebrations.We, therefore,request you to join us on Friday 13th June 2014 at Sarova Panafric Hotel for the second 1st Lady’s Annual Fundraising Dinner for Sanitary Towels Why get involved:I always panic when this time comes, I remember the pain I go through when I do not have pads and I have to use pieces of old clothes.

When I use pieces of old clothes I get some bruises and burns, walking is difficult and it is very uncomfortable, during this time I want to be alone. This makes me feel very uncomfortable especially when the piece of cloth gets out of place or get soaked. I recall one day when the piece of cloth got out of place while I was in the school compound with other pupils, it was so embarrassing trying to put it back in place without raising eyebrows. Other girls made fun of me, it spread to the whole school and every one especially the boys laughed at me….. I wanted to drop out of school”-Mueni (not her real name).The 1st Lady of Makueni therefore calls upon you to support this charitable fundraising dinner as a great way of supporting the initiative of “Keeping Girls’ in School-Ending the Period of Shame”. Together Let us Keep our Girls in School and End the Period of Shame!

THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE DEPUTY GOVERNOR

Born to strict and religious parents, the Deputy Governor’s life story has remained a candid inspiration to scores of women in Makueni County and beyond.

By any description, Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau is a perfect example of the strength of a woman. Her life story is a one long and interesting narrative of intriguing experiences right from early childhood to adulthood, crowned by her entry into advocacy and politics. Born 62 years ago in the hilly terrains of Kilungu, today’s deputy governor of Makueni County has stood out as a shining beacon to the women fraternity not only in Makueni, but also in the entire country. Her parents, who were staunch Catholics, ensured she learnt responsibility early, being the first born in a family of three boys and five girls. As career teachers, and founders of several schools in Makueni and Machakos Counties, her parents ensured all their children went to school, more remarkably at a time when majority of parents were yet to see the sense of educating their children; particularly girls.Unfortunately, she would not live to experience much of her both parents’ love and guidance, following the death of her father while she was still very young.

It is at that point, she explains, that her mother took over the mantle and begun the struggle to provide for the huge family single-handedly. But what ignited her passion for politics and to pursue ‘genderoriented’ activism- and by extension, women empowerment? At some point while still growing up, she recalls, she begun to take issue with some of the doctrines advanced by the catholic religion, which she says, appear to depict women as inferior. She would later get in touch with liberation theology which made her more comfortable and appreciate religion and the bible. Liberation theology helped her realize the need to be a voice of the voiceless and the disadvantaged or marginalized. She has since been focused and committed to support the marginalized and the disadvantaged people, which made her visible within the County and beyond. “Personal struggles, triumphs and lessons learnt from my mother and other mentors have exposed me to leadership and prepared me for political battles.
The lessons learnt from their experiences and struggles have taught me to respect and appreciate women and have made me realize that nobody gives you power, you just take it. I also believe that women can actually beat the odds of patriarchy”, she says. And just as the saying goes, like mother like daughter, Adelina would eventually follow the footsteps of her mother, Teresia Mwau, who was at one point a nominated councilor in then Machakos County Council. Her mother was also the first woman in Kilungu to contest for a civic seat. Ms Mwau’s motivation to Strength of a Woman: the untold Story of Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau become the voice of the disadvantaged and the marginalized as well as a human rights activist is driven from her long time engagement with grassroots groups and communities and the need to engender laws and policies that aim at positive change in communities.
During her five-year stint as an Assistant Minister of Labor and Human Resource Development, and Nominated MP, she served as a member of Public Accounts Committee, where she worked behind the scenes with her colleagues to promote engendering of Bills, Motions and budget-making process in the 9th Parliament. In 2002, Ms Mwau was nominated to Parliament by President Kibaki’s Narc party, where she joined her fellow female colleagues including Martha Karua, Charity Ngilu, Beth Mugo, NjokiNdungu, NyivaMwendwa among others to promote the Gender-Agenda in Legislation, Policy Formulation and Budget-making. She was later appointed as an Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Management. In 2012, Prof Kivutha Kibwana, now the Governor of Makueni County, picked Adelina Mwau as his running mate where the pair captured the gubernatorial seat almost with a landslide win.
Currently, the DG is a member of the Deputy Governors’ Forum chaired by Narok DG, EverlynArwasa. She also doubles as the treasurer of a newly established network of Women Deputy Governors dubbed ‘Kenya Network of Women Governors (KNWG)’ a network that envisages to consolidate the gains already achieved through the constitutional framework that set the a third gender rule, develop a robust structure and forum for addressing gender equality at county levels and to galvanize and provide necessary structures for advocacy. Her eight other colleagues include Hazel Ogunde (Mombasa), Fatuma Mohamed Achani (Kwale) and Mary NdigaKibuka (TaitaTaveta) from Coast region; Dorothy Nditi Muchungu (Embu); Peninah Malonza (Kitui) from Eastern region; Everlyn Arwasa (Narok), Susan Kikwai (Kericho) from Riftvalley region and Ruth Odinga (Kisumu) representing Nyanza and Western regions.
She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies-The Hague, Holland and a Diploma in Adult Education from the Institute of Adult Studies-University of Nairobi. She trained in DELTA (Development Education Leadership Teams in Action) – a 4-phased training in Participatory approaches to development organized by Kenya Catholic Secretariat, Department of Development.Some of her major achievements She was in the forefront with fellow women leaders in mainstreaming gender in the new Constitution under the Ufungamano Initiative.In parliament, she was among the leading voices for affirmative action on gender equity and called for the zero rating of sanitary towels for school girls.She is passionate about engendering the newly formed Counties Integrated Development Plans (CIDP’s) in Kenya.
The Makueni Deputy Governor has a wealth of experience and is the Advisor and Founder Member of Women’s Research Centre & Development Institute (WRC-DI)- a platform she has been using to fight gender violence and engage grassroot communities in Makueni County She is the Founder and Board Member of several organizations and political parties e.g. COVAW-K, Kenya Women PoliticalAlliance, Narc-Kenya and Institute for Social Transformation in Uganda among others. She worked as a Regional Programme Officer at WILDAF (Women in Law and Development in Africa) based in Harare – Zimbabwe and is a Co-founder & Facilitator of Training for Transformation (TFT) International Diploma Programme. She worked as a Gender Program Officer in Oxfam Kenya and as an Adult Training Coordinator, Dioceses of Marsabit and also served in the National Adult Education Consultants with Catholic Dioceses of Kenya.
She is the author of various publications for instance,the Oxfam Gender Training Manual and Coauthor of a Training Manual on Gender & Human Rights-a publication of the World Health Organisation (WHO). She was nominated for the Award of OGW (Order of the Golden Warrior) by the Devolution & Planning Ministry. She spearheads a project that seeks to address menstruation management 17and hygiene practices in rural public primary & secondary schools in Makueni County. Advocating for Affirmative Action and the 2/3 representation in all processes in Makueni County. She supports the girl child education and women’s movement through table banking and formation of cooperatives to ensure that women’s merry-go-round move from private reproductive activities to public productive ventur She is a co-founder and director of St Teresia Kilungu Academy & Formation Centre that was established to help underprivileged and vulnerable children.
A majority of women feel encouraged that she is a Deputy Governor and continues to mentor and motivate them to start dreaming and affirming themselves that they can too be great leaders. Others are advocacy, lobbying and community awareness on gender, adult education, reproductive health, human rights and development issues in addition to continous education and awareness creation on devolution and the opportunities available for women, youth and people with disabilities through the tendering process. We are also encouraging formation of groups in order to benefit from above. As a mentor and a leader, she continues to encourage girls and young women that they can be whatever they want to become if they concentrate on their education by working hard, setting goals and focusing on achieving them so that they can live better lives and become powerful and influential leaders in the future.
Her views on women’s role in devolved government “Makueni residents are full of expectations for the first time in more than 50 years of Kenya’s independence. They see devolution as their savior”, she adds. For instance, there has been a major boost in health care services and women’s leadership is visible because of affirmative action and the two thirds gender representation in all processes in our County. According to her, the major priorities that require urgent implementation include:-
  • Taking off a burden out of women’s backs so that they can concentrate in productive activities and children can concentrate  on their learning by distribution of water tanks, gutters and emphasis on water knowledge and harvesting practices.
  • Economic empowerment for women by ensuring that merry-go-rounds move from private to public domain through formation of strong cooperative movements.
  • Addressing women’s reproductive health issues -construction of a women’s hospital.

Second in command as a Deputy Governor, her role includes deputizing the Governor in the execution of his functions as well as coordinating operational matters within the county. It is worth noting that this is the most challenging job that she has ever done in her life simply because the job is new and she is among the first crop of Deputy Governors in Kenya. They are setting especially structures, policies, and translating them into devolution laws. Besides, there are challenges with the National Government particularly with the functions and powers of devolved units, E.g. County Roads and Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA) and Education. It is therefore difficult to explain what has been devolved and what has not been devolved and this sometimes brings confusion and blame by citizens. “Attending and participating in field activities at the community level and giving inspirational motivational talks to women and young people is the most enjoyable part of my job,” she says.“I really like that I am making an impact in the community where I live and the county at large”, she adds.

Leading by example-An Environmentalist and a farmer “I am passionate about farming and environmental conservation. For instance, am creating awareness and education on water harvesting to farmers through construction of farm ponds. In addition, I have planted over 500 avocados for export, 1500 passion fruits and bananas. I practice dairy and poultry farming and my three (3) Fresian cows that are being milked currently produce 74 litres of milk per day and this is likely to increase because of availability of pasture due to the rains. I am a member of several cooperative movements like Nunguni FSA, AKA Housing Cooperative and Universal Traders Sacco among others. I have also taken the initiative to create a man- made forest in pursuit of environmental conservation. I encourage you to take the initiative to plant trees especially this rainy season where there is a lot of soil erosion and destruction of property. These trees do help as wind-breakers and prevent soil erosion to a great extent.” she adds.

Fruits of Devolution: Yumbuni Sand Dam

Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau and beneficiaries of Yumbuni sand dam,Mukaa ward, pose with heads of cabbage grown using water from the sand dam. Sustainable food production from irrigation farming is at the heart of our Vision 2025.

Makueni Fruit Processing Plant Roars to Life

The engines have roared to life. The long awaited Makueni Fruit Processing Plant is now a reality. Governor Kivutha Kibwana, Makueni Farmers representatives, and residents of Makueni have today unveiled the Makueni Fruit Processing Plant at Kalamba. The Plant has a capacity to process 5 metric tons of raw mangoes producing 3,000 liters of Puree (Mango concentrate) per hour. A liter of the concentrate fetches KES 150 at the market place.

Before devolution, the idea of establishing a fruit processing plant, in Makueni to help our fruit farmers to stem wastage and raise incomes was always dear and heavily borne in our hearts and minds. However, the power and opportunity to allocate public resources of the magnitude required to realize this remained a dream. Dreams not achieved turned into nightmares during the peak seasons when mango prices dipped to three shillings per piece.

This factory will provide opportunities for local farmers and investors to own a stake and grow wealth, learn new technologies and learn about value addition to increase farm incomes. Our farmers are the primary stakeholders of the plant. The Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries is now seized with enhancement of the quality of our fruits, control of the fruit fly and farmer education to ensure the fruits processed in the plant are compliant with European Union (EU) standards.

World Environment Day 2017

The World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. On June 5th the nations of the world came together in making the day. Worldwide, it was held in Canada and Egerton took the privilege of hosting the event countrywide as the other Counties do it.

“Connecting people to nature” the theme of World Environment Day 2017, implores us to get outdoors and in to nature, to appreciate its beauty and its importance, and to forward the call to protect the earth that we share.

Assistant Director Environment- Joseph Munyao explaining 2017’s theme

 ‘Without a healthy environment we cannot end poverty or build prosperity. We all have a role to play in protecting our only homes: we can use less plastic, drive less, waste less food and teach each other to care’ secretary-general, Antonio Guterres.

Just like philosopher Antonio said in the above statement, Makueni County used the UN Environment-led global event to showcase to the people the beauty of its natural environment on land and water and how to conserve.

County Warden addressing the crowd on importance of conservation

Mtito Andei been the host town, the department of Water, Irrigation and Environment (W.I.E) in Makueni County, partnered with Kenya Wildlife Service, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Serena Hotel, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), and primary school pupils joined hands to clean up the outskirts Mtito Andei town.

Stakeholders, partners and pupils cleaning the outskirts of Mtito Andei

To celebrate World Environment Day 2017, Kenya Wildlife Service offered free entrance to Tsavo West to those who participated in making the World Environment Day successful in Makueni County

Tree Growing and Conservation Awards

The grand award of celebrating the Kenyan Heroes in Tree Growing and Conservation 2017 was a premier event organized by Kenya Forest Service at the Headquarters of Karura Forest being officiated by Her Excellency Margret Kenyatta.

Fifty-nine conservationists and tree growers among them the County Government of Makueni were recognized for the effort and determination of making the Kenyan Forest cover rise to 7.4per cent from 6.9per cent in 2010. The objective of the initiative is to turn the forest cover from 7.4percent to 10per cent as per the Vision 2030.

The awardees were drawn from the 47 counties since 514 members had applied. They all went through a panel. Evaluation was done from the headquarters depending on the three ecological zones and amount of rainfall each area receives.

Awardees who included individuals, schools, cooperates, groups of disabilities, community, farmers, state agencies and counties received medals and certificates.

Her Excellency first lady congratulated the awardees citing the huge benefits and the various roles that forests play all over the world and playing a key role to balance nature.

The Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources Pro. Judi Wakhugu said the 70per cent of Kenyans who depend on fuel exerts pressure on our forests.

The minister of Water Irrigation and Environment, Makueni County Mr. Douglas Mbilu accompanied his team to celebrate and receive the award of the life-size achievement for the Directorate of Environment.

 

Mr. Mbilu interacted with Pro. Judi Wakhugu, the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Natural Recourses with whom they shared different tactics in their field of work bearing in mind they both head the department of Environment in County and National Government respectively.

Speaking on phone to the local radio stations Mr. Mbilu was overwhelmed for the achievement they have got so far as a directorate and urged the residents of Makueni County to conserve the environment and protect the reafforesteted hills.

 

Report by: Claudia Katheu.

Makueni Agricultural Show

Government of Makueni for the first time on 16th and 17th June, 2017 held ground breaking Agricultural and Trade affair at Makindu show ground an event which was opened by HE Pro. Kivutha Kibwana aimed at letting people of Makueni County be in the know and bringing general education to the footsteps of the community.

The Department of Water, Irrigation and & Environment actively participated by engaging their valued stakeholders in Environment and Natural resource Conservation and management rich Makueni county by exhibiting on successes and innovative technologies able to propel their community to achieve sustainable natural resource conservation and management as well as foster co-existence of human and wildlife in their biodiversity.
Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest service, Kenya Forestry Research Institute and Anglican Development Services Eastern were some of the stakeholders which were invited by Assistant Director, Environment via a letter dated 12thJune, 2017. The Directorate of Environment had the opportunity to show to the community all that they have done through a documentary that was done by the directorate among many things.
The event which took two days of entertainment and education from the Department of W.I & E and Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest service, Kenya Forestry Research Institute and Anglican Development Services Eastern since were some of the stakeholders which were invited by Assistant Director, Environment via a letter dated 12th June, 2017.
Prepared by Claudia Katheu.

Water Agenda

The provision of water to our people continues to be the single most important challenge and opportunity for developing and transforming our communities. It is three years now since we launched the ‘Kutwiikanya Kiwu’ programme as a strategy for enhancing community and household water harvesting in our County.
At the community level we have enhanced water storage infrastructure through construction of 98 earth dams and 45 sand dams and weirs while at the household and institutional levels we have promoted roof catchment as well as drilling of boreholes and extension of water pipeline networks.
Currently, 19 more sand dams are under construction. We have drilled 87 boreholes and equipped 39 others. 9 more boreholes are currently being drilled. Out of these, 24 boreholes have been drilled using the drilling rig that we recently acquired. It is our priority to distribute the water in all our boreholes since we have the resources in the 2017/2018 budget.
Our people are now carrying out irrigation farming using the water from the earth dams and sand dams. Some earth dams are also stocked with fish.
300 women groups have benefited from water tanks through the ‘Nzangule ya Matangi’ programme. 300 more groups are set to benefit from water tanks. This programme is promoting water accessibility and micro-irrigation initiatives in the County. The Department of Youth, Gender, Sports and Social Services has also distributed water tanks to youth and women groups while the Department of Education and ICT has distributed water tanks to primary schools and the Department of Health Services to health facilities.
The County still remains water deficient even with these interventions. This explains our decision to allocate 1 Billion Kenya Shillings for water projects in the 2017/2018 financial year. We are partnering with the South Eastern Kenya University (SEKU) in mapping our water resources especially the location of sand dams and earth dams. A separate research on the capacity of our boreholes is currently being undertaken. This will lead to the development of a water policy and master plan.

Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Project

Makueni County is the first within the region to pass regulations on Climate Change. It has partnered with: UKAID, Ada Consortium, Christian Aid and Anglican Development Services Eastern (ADSE). As a result, the County has been at a position of accessing 50M seed money for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience.

RELATED >> MAKUENI COUNTY CLIMATE CHANGE REGULATIONS, 2015

Adaptation Consortium which is one of its partners through funding from DFID  supports County Governments in Kitui, Makueni, Wajir , Garrissa and Isiolo to mainstream Climate adaptation into planning and budgeting at the county level and set up mechanisms to access climate finance (from global, national and private sources) for adaptation prioritized by local communities. . The Government of Makueni County has made progress on the same by allocating 1% of its total development budgetary cost on Climate Change.  This will be effective by mainstreaming County Climate Change Fund (CCCF) Regulations into the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP).

Christian Aid (Adaptation Consortium member) in  partnership with Anglican Development Services Eastern , is showing that local Climate adaptation planning ,supported by devolved funds managed by the County authorities , and informed by enhanced Climate Information Services (CIS),can render significant benefits for people in poor and marginalized households.

Makueni County CCCF Regulation development

The process began in January 2015 when a team of six from Makueni County participated in a County Climate Change Fund (CCCF) development workshop in Nairobi.

These included:

  • County Executive Member of Water, Irrigation & Environment
  • Executive Committee Member of Finance & Socio-economic Planning
  • Three members of the County Assembly
  • 1 Officer from the Department of Water, Irrigation & Environment

The above team drafted the first document which was presented to the County Cabinet meeting in February, 2015.

The document was presented to the County Assembly and amendments done and passed in September, 2015

Ward Selection Criteria

From meetings held with various stakeholders in Makueni County, the following items were suggested as possible selection criterion for the 10 out of 40 wards to be covered by the project;

  • Consideration of the agro-ecological zones of the wards
  • The poverty index of the wards
  • The livelihood zones and existing coping strategies (including aspects such as charcoal burning as a livelihood option)
  • The vulnerability index and context of the wards towards natural hazards and disasters (directly linked to aspects of climate change)
  • The ease (or lack of) access to information including climate information; phone network coverage
  • Regional representation (wards to cover worst hit regions) The closeness of the selected wards to enhance impact and change in a systematic and structured way
  • The number of players and type of interventions being undertaken in the county, more so the interrelationship with climate resilience work
  • The climate risks that exist in the various wards and coping to the same
  • Use of Climate information services in programming by existing CSO’s, NGO’s and government

The six pilot wards for the implementation of the Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience projects entail:   Mtito Andei, Nguu Masumba, Kilungu, Mbitini, Kithungo Kitundo and Kiima Kiu Kalanzoni Wards respectively.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS (SUMMARY)

Makueni County has made significant strides towards.

  1. Selection of the six wards for implementation of the Climate Change Adaptation and resilience projects
  2. Conducting the Participatory Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (PVCA) exercises.
  3. Establishment of the Makueni County Climate Change Funds Regulation,2015
  4. Launch of the Makueni County Climate Change Fund Regulations, 2015 Press Release conference.
  5. Setting up of the structures on Climate Change.
  6. Capacity building of the members to the governance structures on Climate Change.
  7. Commissioning/Operationalization of the governance structures on Climate Change by H.E the Governor of Makueni County Professor Kivutha Kibwana.
  8. Development of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Makueni County and Anglican Development Services Eastern (ADSE) / Christian Aid.
  9. Development of a Makueni County Climate Information Service (CIS) Plan.
  10. Training of the 841 County Information Services (CIS) intermediaries.
  11. Review of the proposals submitted by the Ward County Climate Change Planning Committee (WCCCPC).
  12. Pre-visit of the proposed sites by the Ward County Climate Change Planning Committee (WCCCPC)  .
  13. Approval of the proposals by the County Climate Change Planning Committee
  14. Survey and design of the proposed sites for the implementation of the projects.

DOWNLOAD THE CLIMATE CHANGE REGULATIONS.