Kiambu State of the county address – What Governor Kabogo said.

Governor William Kabogo Gitau has today, Thursday, April 6^th, 2017, delivered his fourth State of the County address before the Kiambu County Assembly in accordance to the Constitution.

In his presentation, Kabogo gave an outlook of the county in various sectors of the economy and his government’s focus for the next Fiscal Year.

“Our vision for Kiambu County is no longer a vision. We have worked to translate our goals and commitments into a reality. To achieve this, we are in the process of introducing Result Based Management (performance contracting) for all our staff in the county,” said Kabogo.

Revenue collection.

Kabogo said that his government had doubled revenue collection from 2013 to date through automation, widening of revenue base and sealing of revenue loopholes. KCG has also partnered with (The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to enhance revenue collection for better service delivery.

Agriculture

In the agricultural sector, Kabogo noted that the county had boosted livestock farming by acquiring 11 milk coolers with a total capacity of these coolers is 39,000 litres and also procured, installed and equipped at least one greenhouse per ward, totaling to 80 greenhouses.

“Over 50 groups with a membership of 1000 farmers trained in agro processing initiatives. We have supplied 78,000 fingerlings to farmers and offered training and extension services to 800 fish farmers in the county,” he said.

Health

The governor reckoned that Kiambu Residents now enjoyed increased access to modern and better healthcare services, with his government’s attention now shifting to Patient-centered service delivery in line with its vision of an efficient, effective and high quality healthcare system that is accessible, equitable and affordable for every person.

“We had an in-patient bed capacity of 900 when we assumed power which we has increased to 1,700 spread across 108 health facilities with a target of 3,500. We have recorded a reduced neonatal death rate from 8.7 per 1,000 live births down from 12.3 in 2013,” said the governor.

He added that the county had a fully operation Regional Blood Satellite Center and a Telemedicine Center both located at Gatundu Level 4 Hospital and constructed 2 Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in Thika Level 5 and Gatundu Level 4 hospitals as well as 2 High Dependency Units.

“We have procured 13 Advanced Life Support Ambulances evenly spread out across the 12 sub counties. With over 22 new maternal and child health clinics, we now have a record of 62,000 expectant mothers successfully delivering,” he said.

Youth & Sports

In a bid to nurture growing youth talents, KCG was undertaking the construction of the Kiambu Amphitheater at the Kirigiti grounds. They have renovated 42 ward playing fields in the ‘One Field Per Ward’ project, leaving a balance of only 18.

“Our sports department has facilitated teams to participate at the Nationwide, Provincial and County leagues and provided sports equipment including balls, uniforms and nets to 800 clubs and sports associations as well as training 480 referees and coaches in football, volleyball, cricket and martial arts,” the statement read.

Biashara Fund.

On the Kiambu Biashara Fund, Governor Kabogo told the assembly that over Sh. 200 million had been disbursed to over 3,000 beneficiary groups and individuals and repayment was at 93%.

“Kiambu County is the first county to do a Biashara Fund to empower the youth to support their businesses Plan to convert Biashara Fund it into a one billion fund. We have also introduced the Mobiloan where small market enterprises can borrow between Sh. 500 – 10,000 at 1% interest. So far we have disbursed over Sh. 8 million.”

Water Provision.

Water connectivity in the county had now risen to 54% up from 35%. The 8 water companies within the county had a combined water connection of 84,773 in 2013 which has increased to 117,463 in 2017.

The county has also installed water purification systems are at Ngewa, Githunguri and Karuri with a fourth one currently being installed in Ngoliba.

Education.

KCG has embarked on a free school feeding programme on all its 491 public ECDE centers, benefiting over 25,000 children.

Infrastructure.

“Roads construction is a priority.  We have constructed 2500 Km of rural access roads out of a target of 3500 to be realised by the of end financial year 2018. We have also installed over 2,315 street lights across the County and overseen the installation of 75 flood masts,” said Kabogo.

Housing.

Kabogo said that they had established automation of development approvals through the electronic Development Applications Approval System so as to ease the process.

“We have commissioned a state-of-the-art system, eDAMS (electronic Development Applications Approval System) to ease approvals of housing within the county. This will go a long way in developing Kiambu County’s real estate sector,” he said.