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Kibwana meets KPC chiefs over delayed oil spillage compensation

Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana on Monday hosted top officials from Kenya Pipeline Company(KPC)  and Thange Farmers Association representatives to deliberate on the delayed compensation following oil spillage on River Thange in 2016.

The meeting came as  a response to a letter dated October 05, 2018  addressed to the KPC Chairman Mr John Ngumi by the Thange Farmers Association to look into the challenges delaying the compensation.

In the letter the group raised concerns about delayed compensations, lack of supply of potable water for domestic use and loss of land use since 2015 among other issues.

The Association chairman Mr Sammy Muindi referring to the letter said that there were still pending compensation cases three years after the oil spill adding that their agricultural means of livelihoods were cut short by the damaging spillage.

He said: “Three years after the oil spill we are yet to be fully compensated. KPC promised to supply clean water for domestic use but for a month now we have gone without clean drinking water. We stopped all our agricultural activities,the victims are facing a serious economic crisis.”

Governor Kibwana who chaired the meeting noted that the matter falls within the energy sector which  is not a devolved function making it difficult for the county to expressly take action.

The governor however said that they were offering support to the affected citizens of Thange and pleaded with all stakeholders to move with speed and bring the issue to rest once and for all.

“Energy  is a national function and we cannot go beyond our mandate as a county. We however are giving support to our Thange citizens. My plea to you is that we need to finalise this issue once and for all so that we can move on,” Prof Kibwana stated.

The governor  further said that the Thange oil spill should not be politicised.

KPC chair John Nguma said the organization is taking the matter seriously and would act to ensure residents are supplied with clean water for domestic use.

Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior responding to the matter observed that all stakeholders involved in resolving the issues were performing poorly citing breakdown of communication as one of the major setbacks.

“We are all doing poorly in handling this matter while the people of Thange are suffering. What I see here is a breakdown of communication,” Mutula said.

He further urged for transparency in dealing with the issue.He called  for the reconstitution of the taskforce appointed to handle the spillage.

KPC Managing Director Joe Sang, in response to some of the issues raised by the Thange farmers said that they had used over Sh 31 million in Corporate Social Responsibility activities and over Sh 31 million to compensate 266 claimants.

He further promised that seven claims where discharge vouchers were signed and awaiting payment were going to be paid by the following week explaining that out of the total 4,267 claims received by KPC to date, 491 were fraudulent, 635 were pending due to incomplete information which was required by the insurance company for compensation 1,272 were rejected because the claimants were not residents of Thange.
  • October 15, 2018 in News

Kibwana, Lusaka tell youth to claim their space in the country’s development

Makueni governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana and Senate speaker Kenneth Lusaka have challenged the youth in the country to claim their space in the country’s development agenda and leadership.

The two spoke at the Kenya School of Government in an address to representatives of the youth from across the 47 counties during an inaugural Youth and Devolution symposium.

Prof Kibwana told the youth not to allow the country lose direction while watching from the periphery as they stood to lose the most.

“You must not allow your country to lose direction under your watch as you will be around much longer and will lose most. You have to be a people fired up to achieve a mission in nurturing the future,” Prof Kibwana told the symposium.

He said the youth should use their numerical strength to push for their agenda and shun the culture of tribalism, handouts and protests as the only way to be heard.

“Young people make almost 70 percent of the Kenyan population. With these numbers, they can work for change that favour them, either through the electoral process or through pushing for adequate budgetary allocation for their agenda in public participation forums,” he said.

Prof Kibwana said young people cannot decry lack of experience as those who started off the country after independence were under 30s without prior experience.

Mr Lusaka challenged the youth to be in the forefront in addressing tribal balkanisation and hail true Kenyan patriotism if they are to succeed in advancing their agenda and driving a positive change in the country’s leadership.

The governor and the speaker insisted on morality, ethical and spiritual values for the young people to steer a positive change capable of safeguarding the interests of the future generations.

Kibwana leads Campaigns for Municipal Charter

Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana today led campaigns to sensitize Makueni residents on the proposed charter for Wote Municipality.

Prof Kibwana said that under the new arrangement the municipality will be managed by a board headed by a municipal manager.

The governor said the board will comprise nine members whose appointment will be based on a number of laid down factors.

‘’The board shall exercise legislative authority by passing municipal by –laws that shall be approved by majority of the board members but with full public participation. It shall have powers over municipal assets and employ their staff in consultation with the municipal manager,’’Prof Kibwana said.

Prof Kibwana who spoke to members of the business community from Wote/Nziu,Kako/Waia,Ukia and Muvau/Kikumini wards during the event  said the municipality will help engage good governance and equity in distribution of resources.

He said the new arrangement will also be used to ensure social cohesion.

Prof Kibwana reported that  both transport,infrastructure,housing and urban development ministries have partnered with the World Bank and set aside funds to support 45 municipalities in Kenya,Makueni included.

‘’All the  county headquarters except for the  established cities of Nairobi and Mombasa are eligible to access this funding for the urban development grant and the urban institutional grant as long as the counties have met all the minimum conditions set out under the grant terms and conditions,”the governor said.

He further  said  that Sh 20 million will be disbursed in the first year,the same amount of money in the second year and Sh 10 more million in the third year for urban institutional grant.

He said under  the urban development grant,the first tranche of Sh 135 million shall be accessed based on the total population pegged at Sh 2,000 per person depending on population of an area.

‘’I therefore also implore upon you as stakeholders to consider and agree on the proposed charter, which will then be considered and approved by executive committee and forwarded to the county assembly for consideration and approval,”Prof Kibwana said.

Lands ECM Mr Joshua Wambua said that the municipality will provide efficient and accountable management of its affairs.

‘’It will as well verify whether public resources and authority are utilized or exercised as the case may be to its satisfaction’’ Mr Wambua said.

Kibwana in Talks with UN-Habitat over Upgrade Plans for County Towns

Makueni County has initiated talks with the UN-Habitat for a partnership in upgrading the county’s urban settlements.

In a meeting between Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana and the UN-Habitat regional director for Africa Prof Naison Mutizwa-Mangiza at the United Nations headquarters in Nairobi on Friday the two explored different collaborative opportunities through which the partnership would be staged.

Prof Mutizwa and Prof Kibwana agreed that the two institutions would develop a joint framework to address issues of solid waste management, urban settlements upgrading and youth empowerment once a memorandum of understand on the partnership was developed.

Prof Mutizwa indicated that the UN-Habitat is committed to developing one million housing units in Kenya in the next five years, and that Makueni stood a good chance of benefiting from the scheme with the right collaborative framework.

“Our 2016-2036 urban agenda focusses on delivering new, affordable and adequate quality housing in urban places with slums upgrading a key priority. Makueni should take advantage of this,” he said.Prof. Kibwana said his government is conducting a town planning of 120 urban places across the county and will move with speed to develop a partnership agreement with UN-Habitat to upgrade several of them, especially the county capital, Wote.

He cited a stalled housing scheme in Wote, previously initiated by the ministry of public works and housing which he said if fully developed would significantly offset the housing shortages in the county capital.The governor said the County government is willing to adopt the stalled project if there was a proper agreement between his government and the national government.

He said the housing project has suffered extreme vandalism and cannibalism but could be completed and availed for use if the two levels ‎of government agreed o way forward.“A number of civil servants working in Makueni seek housing in Machakos and some even operate from Nairobi for lack of adequate decent housing in Wote.

We will seek to partner with UN-Habitat and the National government to complete the scheme and settle the housing challenge,” he said. Prof Kibwana added that his government will also seek a partnership with the UN body to complete formulation of its spatial plan, develop a youth empowerment one-stop shop and enhance revenue generation in urban places.

On her part, Mwau said the county is ready to work with the UN body to benefit from technical support in various aspects of the areas targeted by the proposed partnership. “We are very keen on this engagement and more so partnership in the area of waste disposal management system and production of solar energy,” she said.

A UN-Habitat delegation is scheduled to visit Makueni on a familiarization tour before finally prioritizing areas of partnership with the county government.

Kibwana in Talks with ICPAK for Financial Management Collaboration

Governor Kivutha Kibwana on Friday held talks with top management officers of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) who paid him a courtesy call at Wote.

The talks centered on possible areas of collaboration between the county government and the accountancy regulator with a view to strengthening financial management systems.

Among the identified areas of collaboration include accounting personnel capacity building, establishment of a CPA centre and KCA University satellite campus in Wote, own source revenue growth, financial risks management and training of SMEs, FSAs on financial growth.

Kibwana has pledged that the county government would make available five acres of land for establishment of the CPA centre and KCA University Campus in the 2019/20 budget cycle.

The ICPAK delegation was led by Chief Executive Officer Edwin Makori and the manager, Devolution and Branches Public Policy and Research Division Hillary Onami.

Kibwana: I am both a Governor and Pastor

When invited to Mavuno church in Athi River to speak on faith and leadership at a three-day summit dubbed Fearless Summit 2018, on Wednesday, Makueni governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana left his audience in awe when he declared that he considered himself both a governor and pastor.

“I consider myself both a governor and pastor because I get opportunities to meet with people not reached out to by pastors in funerals, weddings and other public and social events. When I talk to them, they listen and some even denounce their not-so-good ways of life,” said Prof Kibwana to a thunderous applause from congregants drawn from various states across the globe.

Prof Kibwana said before he ventured into the contest for the governorship, he pursued Theology so as to have a deeper understanding of how to serve the people better.

“I chose to pursue a theological course while still serving as the advisor to the former President Mwai Kibaki, who was amused that I still wanted to go back to school after a considerable period of schooling. Deep down I knew I wanted to be a governor and understanding self and service to mankind drove me to theological school,” the governor said.

He said many people, including those who profess christianity harbour a misguided opinion that matters of state must be separated from matters of faith.

Many people of faith, Prof Kibwana said, fear venturing into politics thinking they would be compromised by the secular system of governance.

According to him, it is this lack of men of faith in governance that has engendered the deep rooted corruption plaguing the country.

Prof Kibwana opined that the leadership influence inculcated in successive generations affects the overall development of the state or organisation depending on the character of the predecessor.

  • June 7, 2018 in News

Kibwana hosts Polish Envoy for Bilateral Trade Engagement

Governor Kivutha Kibwana on Monday hosted at Wote the Polish ambassador to Kenya Jacek Bazanski for a bilateral trade engagement with special focus on cooperative movement development.

The ambassador said his major reason for the Makueni visit was to establish a platform for Polish companies to interact with their Kenyan /Makueni counterparts for shared economic partnerships.

He said Makueni has entrenched a transparent leadership which is attracting investors, and Poland would seek to work with the county for the benefit of both the county government and his country.

Bazanski was accompanied by the Nairobi Bureau Chief of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency Michael Mazurewicz.

The two, accompanied by governor Kibwana and department of trade officials held talks with representatives of cooperators across Makueni.

Kibwana welcomed any partnership with Poland investors that would help grow the County cooperative movement to become a key socio-economic driver to the county and Country at large.

“We are desirous of establishing mutually beneficial relations with your country in the areas of agro-processing, water harvesting/conservation and road infrastructure development so that we can easily embrace technology from your country,” Kibwana told the envoy.

Kibwana said since the inception of his government, the cooperative movement has grown from 83 cooperatives to 207, with a total membership of 50,866, share capital of Kenya shillings 264,002,126, turnover of Kenya shillings 72,862,269 and members’ savings of Kenya shillings 202,389,214.

The Polish envoy agreed to co-facilitate a trip to Poland for the Makueni cooperators’ representatives to learn from best practices on cooperative movement participation in the country’s development.

Poland has one of the most developed cooperative movement which has catapulted it to the 6th biggest economy in Europe.

Kibwana hosts Dutch Envoy, Former CJ, on devolution support

Governor Kivutha Kibwana on Monday hosted Dutch ambassador to Kenya Frans Makken, former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and Ford Foundation’s Eastern Africa director Maurice Makoloo at Wote to share ideas on how to support devolution through mutual partnerships.

The leaders explored possible areas of partnerships with key focus on institutionalized civic education, public participation and mainstreaming the youth in development.

Dr Mutunga described Makueni as a beacon of progress for sustaining devolution owing to its robust civic space and public participation framework.

“Makueni is one big change story,” he said. “We are looking at the county as a focus for enhancing civic space because of the robust public participation and civic engagement of the citizens being rolled,” said the former CJ.

Governor Kibwana said it took a lot of struggle to achieve a successful civic education and public participation in the county as the first crop of members of county assembly vehemently opposed any proposed budgetary allocation on grounds that it would have done better on tangible projects such as water, roads and Early Childhood Development Centres.

He said it is out of the robust civic space that the citizens petitioned President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve the county government after it became ungovernable due to incessant fights between MCAs and the executive during the first cycle of devolution.

Kibwana said his government has opened its doors to partners such as Ford Foundation, adding that the government is only playing a catalyst role and then partnering with strategic partners for sustainable development.

Dutch ambassador to Kenya Frans Makken said innovative processes for development partnerships should be enhanced as donors are no longer dishing out monies but facilitating ideas that would translate into wealth creation and tangible social-economic achievements.

He said there are numerous companies, donors and other non state actors willing to engage in such like partnerships with counties such as Makueni which have demonstrated willingness to work with the public in a people-driven development model.

Mr. Makoloo said the foundation will consider working with Makueni to pilot a new youth program involving building a green rural economy driven by young people.

Kibwana Forms Committee to Deal with Floods Crisis

Governor Kivutha Kibwana has formed an inter-departmental committee to coordinate and address emergency responses on the flooding disaster that has hit the County.

Kibwana who had to cut short his stay at the 5th devolution conference in Kakamega to address the disaster at home on Wednesday dispatched a team of executive committee members to various sub- counties to assess the damage and interventions required to restore normalcy from the flooding disaster.

So  far, 24 earth dams across the county have breached  and washed away resulting into a serious water challenges. Boreholes, water pumps, water pipelines and kiosks have also been damaged leaving the affected residents with no water access.

In a preliminary report on the extend of the flooding damage, released by Governor Kibwana on Thursday, water resources worth more than Sh 300 million have been lost to the raging floods in the county.

“We are facing a real disaster in Makueni. I have personally witnessed acres of crop that have been flattened, uprooted water pipelines and sumps.This is a huge damage that so far is estimated at Sh 300 million on water resources alone,” he said.

He said seven lives had been lost to the disaster so far.

Governor Kibwana said his government will distribute mattresses and foodstuffs to those displaced from their homes as a temporary measure, while lobbying non governmental organisations, the national government and other partners to come up with long term solutions to the flooding menace.

“We are in talks with the KeNHA, KeRRA, Red Cross, NDMA and other support groups to undo the damage especially on roads, bridges, water resources and resettlement of Internally Displaced People.

He said at least Sh 2  billion will be required to restore normalcy across all affected sectors in the entire county.

He spoke at Nguu ward during a tour of the affected families.

  • April 27, 2018 in News

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.