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.

Governor Kivutha Kibwana and senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr on Monday led a consultative meeting with Makueni leaders to strategise on how to handle emergency response following deadly floods in the county.

Addressing the forum Prof Kibwana said that the county will require Sh 1 billion to support full recovery from the devastating effects of the havoc that has caused 17 deaths and massive displacement of persons.

According to a report by the county government on the effect of the disaster, 26 dams have been breached, houses collapsed and crops destroyed.

The report further indicates that Sh 205 million is required to repair all the water projects damaged by the floods while Sh 282 million is required to repair damaged roads under the county jurisdiction.

“We estimate the cost of complete repairs and restoration of people’s livelihoods will be over Sh 2 billion,”Prof Kibwana said.

Adding that Sh 500 million is required immediately to facilitate immediate repair works in order to restore normalcy.

The government Prof Kibwana said will be forced to review its 2018-2019 budget in order to focus on addressing the damages and losses caused by the rains.

He said: “We will have to inevitably review and where possible suspend some of the development projects earlier included in our 2018-2019 budget so as to enable us facilitate a recovery plan.”

Prof Kibwana said that the decision to divert the budget plan is painful but one that is a necessary sacrifice.

The governor and the Senator together with members of parliament, members of the county assembly and the county executives agreed to form a committee to coordinate emergency response and avert further loss of lives, property and human suffering out of the raging floods.

The committee was formed on Monday in a meeting of all elected leaders within the county and other stakeholders to draw a roadmap for a united response to the flooding catastrophe.

The committee will among other tasks define priority areas for response, define flood zones along rivers and evacuate where possible, mobilization of the general public to contribute to support the emergency responses as well as lobby other partners to support response initiatives.

The committee comprises of the Governor, County Secretary, CECs (Lands, Finance, Roads, Health, Devolution and Water), Office of the senator, KeRRA, Red Cross, Office of County Commissioner, Security, Clerk of County Assembly, NDMA, All MPs or their representatives and office of the County Representative.

The governor said the county government has already developed a disaster communication structure and protocol which includes a toll free line manned by Kenya Red Cross, short code (40014) for two way messaging as well as establishment of a disaster command center.

Mr Mutula asked local leaders to unite in order to jointly tackle the flood crisis adding that mobilization of relief support from all quarters was necessary.

“We must work together on this one so that we mobilise as much resources as possible for us to succeed,” he said.

The Senator urged the local county assembly to allow passage of an emergency fund in order to make government response to special programs much easier.

“This emergency funds we are talking about must be passed now.MCAs have been resistant but I think it is important and must be considered,” he said.

The Makueni county exhibition tent at the Kakamega devolution conference was a major attraction throughout the devolution bazaar as delegates and other exhibitors took time out to admire some of the products on show.

About 3,500 delegates signed in at the  county exhibition booth to view exciting documentaries on development and infrastructural progress achieved so far.

The county has been admired by many due to progressive implementation of major development projects.

The mention of Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana’s name during the conference was always received with massive applause forcing him to always stand and wave to the delegates to acknowledge their good reception.

Many delegates scrambled to greet the governor every time he walked out of the conference venue with hundreds demanding for selfies with Prof Kibwana who has become a devolution superstar.

Yesterday the county deputy health promotion officer Bretta Mutisya who was leading the county exhibitors said the visits to the booth were massive with many coming to watch the documentaries while others sampled some of the products on display.

“We have interacted with so many guests during this conference. My colleagues who came with products have sold them out. People have picked handbooks from here to familiarize with our development story,” said Ms Mutisya.

Some of the products on show included mango jam, juice, makueni fresh milk, various branded original honey and several booklets detailing development projects by the county.

Several governors and top executives attending the conference also passed by the booth to witness the various development projects being showcased.

Many were interested in the mango juice following the story of Makueni Fruit Processing factory while others asked questions on how the county managed an elaborate universal healthcare system with the scanty resources allocated.

On Tuesday,  Makueni became the talk of the conference after President Uhuru Kenyatta made several references to Governor Kivutha Kibwana acknowledging the initiatives implemented under his government.

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga also echoed the president’s sentiments when he addressed the conference on Wednesday.

Makueni County First lady Nazi Kivutha on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the County First Ladies Association, African cotton Industries Limited and Kenya Red Cross Society.

The tripartite partnership is geared towards implementing menstrual hygiene management program across all the counties

The main agenda of the MoU is to create awareness on adolescent reproductive health needs and provision of conducive policy and social environment for menstrual management

Nazi, who is also the chairperson to the First Ladies association, said the MoU will create a platform in which the parties will cooperate in the realization of the respective strategies and plans.

“The program will focus on menstrual hygiene management, adolescent sexual and reproductive health education, nutrition education, mentorship and life skills development and policy influence,” the First Lady said.

According to Nazi, the program will be launched on May 3, 2018 before a coordinated implementation can kick off

She said the purpose of the MoU was to lay out the framework for collaboration between the parties adding that it will help promote joint actions by the three groups.

The parties will in accordance with the provisions of the MoU, Nazi said will endeavor to work together and maintain a continuous working relationship.

Activities to be undertaken under the MoU will be identified and jointly implemented by the parties.

Also to be undertaken includes advocacy for reproductive health, campaign against FGM and early childhood marriages among other Gender Based Violence (GBV) issues.

The First Ladies Association will help the group with mobilization of resources, mentorship, coordination and administration of the program