News
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.
Makueni Healthcare workers receive PPEs from Safaricom, KCB
Makueni’s frontline healthcare workers on Friday received Personal Protective Equipment worth Sh 1.5 million from telecommunication giant Safaricom to boost their fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The PPEs include 1,270 surgical gowns, 177 N-95 masks, 170 KN95 masks and 205 pieces of protective goggles.
Governor Kivutha Kibwana who received the donation on behalf of the county emergency response committee at his office said safaricom has been a key partner to several counties in the fight against the covid-19 pandemic.
Kibwana also received a cash donation of Sh 1 million from the Kenya Commercial Bank group to boost the county’s preparedness in fighting corona virus.
Besides the donation, Safaricom announced a Sh 2.2 million partnership with the county government to rebuild houses of 99 families affected by floods in the areas of Kilungu, Kaiti, Kitundu and Sultan Hamud.
Shina Foundation to the rescue of vulnerable groups
County first lady Nazi Kivutha, through her Shina Foundation, has reached out to vulnerable groups along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway with a donation of cash and other items as a cushion against covid-19 distress.
The donation targets 207 beneficiaries organized in nine groups, and who are former commercial sex workers, drug addicts/peddlers based in Mtito Andei, Kibwezi, Emali, Makindu, Sultan Hamud, Salama, Malili, Kambu and Machinery towns.
Each of the nine groups received Sh 20,000 cash as seed capital for income generating activities while each individual will receive 5 litres of hand washing soap and a hand washing jerrican.
Nazi also donated 3,605 masks where each household member of the 207 beneficiaries will receive a pack of five face masks.
“We chose groups along the highway because of their vulnerability. Shina Foundation and our partners, among them Centre for Health Solutions and AIDS Healthcare Foundation, felt many young people were at extremely high risk of Covid-19 infection owing to their care-free life associated with substances abuse and commercial sex work,” said Nazi when she presented the donation to the County Coronavirus Emergency Response Committee at the county administration offices Monday.
Governor Kivutha Kibwana who received the donation, lauded Shina foundation terming the outfit a major player in the county development especially in resource mobilization for family planning, health development and mentorship.
Makueni, World Vision Partnership to Quench Kalawa Ward
Kalawa ward is arguably one of the driest parts of Makueni county, perpetually battling water scarcities.
On a normal day, residents have to trek a considerable distance to fetch water from points that the county government has continued to develop across the expansive ward.
A partnership between the county government and World Vision is however projected to change the above scenario and make the ward one of the water secure wards in the county.
The two institutions are co-funding a project dubbed Athi-Kalawa Sanitation Project meant to distribute water to 80 % of the ward area.
The project involves pumping water from Athi River to Wii hills, construction of a treatment plant, construction of a 500 cubic meters reservoir and three distribution lines (Kalawa, Miangeni and Syotuvali) for communal water circulation.
World Vision national director Lilian Dodzo who paid a courtesy call to governor Kivutha Kibwana on Tuesday, to discuss the project progress, said the project purposes to cut the distance to the nearest water point from households to a maximum of 500 meters.
According to County Executive Committee member for Water and Sanitation Rosemary Maundu, the project is 30 percent done and phase 1 must be complete before end of the year 2020.
Kibwana Commits his Executive Committee Members to Performance Contracts
Governor Kivutha Kibwana has for the third year running committed members of his county executive to performance contracts for the 2020/2021 Financial Year.
“Today is yet again another opportunity I have to preside over the signing of performance contracts as we continue to institutionalize the performance management process. This is the third consecutive year we are signing performance contracts. As we have indicated in the past, performance management continues to be an integral part of our service delivery and project implementation,” said governor Kibwana when he presided over the exercise at his offices on Friday
governor Kibwana challenged the departments to work hard to ensure service delivery is given to the people of Makueni to the highest possible quality and that their work is changing the lives of the people they serve for the better.
In view of the COVID-19 challenges and emerging trends, Kibwana has directed all county departments to explore modalities of automating as many of their services as is practically possible. This will ensure continuity of service delivery even during such challenges. It will also help in cutting costs associated with traveling and meetings and direct such savings to development projects for our people.
