HIGHLIGHTS – THIKA TOWNSHIP PUBLIC FORUM ON THE 2020 COUNTY FISCAL STRATEGY PAPER

PEOPLE’S CONCERNS

• Participants were against Kiambu County Government’s decision to offer stadium facilities to non-residents for free while the beneficiaries are charging entry fees to the residents. They insisted that this should only be a preserve of residents only, especially local clubs.

• Participants lamented of dilapidated roads within the estates especially the link road heading to Gatumaini Primary, Chania Boys and Thika High School for the Blind and the road at Section 2 estate that heads to Nightfall Gardens.

• There was also a call to restore order within the CBD especially on the issue of hawkers, matatus, taxis, tukutuks and bodabodas that have occupied virtually every available space.

• Participants complained of the services they received at Thika Level 5 Hospital and called for some stringent measures to ease prompt and quality service delivery.

• The issue of street families and commercial sex workers was also addressed with participants raising issue with the authorities’ laxity to seeking a lasting solution.

• Participants asked about Biashara Fund and the issuance of bursaries where they demanded for more transparency in the distribution of these monies.

• There was also the issue of garbage collection within estates where they complained that it went uncollected.

• The problem of companies and individuals releasing  hazardous effluents into the rivers was also highlighted with others being accused of polluting the air especially at night.

PROMISED SOLUTIONS

• Kiambu County Government promised to recarpet   all the roads within the CBD once the re-tendering of the same was completed. The previous awards were cancelled following an Anti-Corruption case that dogged the previous administration.
• They also promised to grade some of the bad roads periodically subject to availability of their motor graders.
• The officers also promised to systematically solve the congestion problem within the CBD as caused by hawkers and traders in the transport sectors.
• They also promised to get rid of the street families and commercial sex workers by involving the other arms of government such as the police and rehabilitation centres and homes.
• The department of environment promised to severely deal with anyone reported to have polluted the environment. However, on matters related to garbage collection, they said that according to the law, it was the responsibility of individual owners of residential houses to take care of their waste. The county government was only mandated to clean garbage within commercial centres only (CBD).
• KCG promised to revive the Biashara Fund so that more people can benefit from cheap loans to start and expand their businesses.