It Is All Set For The KICOSCA/CASA Tournament In Thika.
Preparations for the 4th Edition of the Kenya Inter-County Sports and Cultural Association and County Assemblies Sports Association Games (KICOSCA/CASA) in Thika are in top gear. Several multi-stakeholder dialogues are being held and organised with the Kiambu County Government and the Thika West top security team giving utmost priority to security, hospitality, trade and commerce.
KICOSCA/CASA which is scheduled for the 14th
– 21st August, 2016 will bring together members of 47 county
governments who include; the staff, MCAs, County Executive Committee members,
and Governors. The annual event, which includes sports such as ajua, darts,
table tennis, athletics, football, netball, tug of war (men and women), volley
ball, badminton, pool, squash, basketball, music set-pieces and traditional
dances, borrowed songs and cultural dances, is geared towards creating
awareness to thus creating better understanding among counties.
The games will be held at the Thika Stadium
and at Thika High School, Gretsa University, St. Lukes Cravers Hotel, Chania
High, Chania Girls, Thika Technical and Thika Community Hall. Kiambu County
will host over 20,000 staff from all the 47 Counties and over 100,000 fans and
sports lovers.
According to Thika West Deputy County
Commissioner Tom Anjere and Thika
Sub-County administrator Rose Muthoni Kimani, great progress has
been made in a number of areas since Thika was chosen to host the games,
including high-level stakeholder
dialogue involving heads of departments in both the county and national
governments and non-governmental organisations including the private sector.
This, they
said, will allow all relevant actors to identify all the concrete tools
available to take an integrated approach to making the event the most memorable
and selling Thika and Kiambu County as a destination of choice in hospitality,
sports and investment.
Speaking at
the Thika Community Hall while meeting managers and owners of bars and
restaurants in Thika West District, the leaders said that they were addressing
matters related to security, healthy environment, accommodation and a conducive
business environment as a priority so as to make sure that visitors who came to
Thika Town were accommodated with the best environment as possible.
“We have taken great steps to ensure
the security and safety of the visitors and residents during and after the
games. We know that we will host more than a 100,000 people here who will
include people who may not be here with good intentions. My security team here
is well prepared for any eventuality but we also request you as the people who
will provide the accommodation, to be vigilant and on the lookout for any
suspicious characters who might try to play dirty tricks within your premises,”
said Anjere.
Mr. Anjere said that they were
currently doing a swoop to rid the town of the street families, beggars and
commercial sex workers who he said were now turning out to be a threat to
security.
He promised of police protection and
asked anyone who witnessed any crime to call the police for action.
Thika OCPD Erastus Muthamia and DAPC
Samuel Ombonya warned their officers who were accused of harassing businesspersons and the general public that they would face the full wrath of
the law. The bar owners had accused the police of harassing them and demanding
‘protection fee’ in the course of doing their patrols. The police were also
said to be notorious of haphazardly
arresting innocent wananchi going about their business especially during the
evening hours.
The county government promised to
improve lighting in the town streets, seal potholes and ensure that there was
enough water to serve both the residents and the visitors. They also promised
to look into ways to tackle the challenge of traffic jams in order to make it
easy for everyone to move about.
Through the sub-county admin, they
promised to look into the logistics towards the traders licensing and
operations with a view to enhance the business environment during the course of
the games and in future.
However, Madam Rose appealed to the
traders to observe utmost professionalism and hygiene otherwise the county
government would take disciplinary action against any of them who violated any
of the sub-county by-laws.
She asked them to take full advantage of the rare opportunity to make business and sell Thika as a destination of choice.
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