Waiguru says Kirinyaga is on a an upward development trajectory as she presents State of the County Address

Kirinyaga County Governor, Anne Waiguru, on Wednesday stated that the county is on an upward development trajectory asmassive projects get accomplished.

While presenting the annual State of the County Address before the County Assembly, the second-term governor said that the county has experienced growth in all sectors.

Waiguru said the recent recognition of the county by the Office of the Controller of Budget for topping the counties with the highest development budget absorption, was out of a deliberate effort to prioritize development she said reforms undertaken in management of the County are bearing fruits.

She said the county had grown its Own Source Revenue steadily from Ksh.374.7 million in financial year 2019/2020 to Ksh. 619 million in 2023/24.

“This achievement is attributed to the reforms that we have undertaken in the revenue directorate which includes digitization of revenue collection which has secured our revenue and made it easier for citizens to pay for single permits and licenses and cess fees,” she said.

Waiguru said her administration had made significant strides inagriculture and health sector which impact heavily on county residents.  

She said that there has been great improvement in many critical areas of the county’s healthcare thus making it robust, accessible and sustainable for all.

Citing the recently upgraded Kerugoya County and Referral Hospital, which she said is operating at its maximum, serving more than 600 outpatients and 400 inpatients every day, Waiguru said the county had made tremendous steps in achieving universal health coverage for all our residents.

To enhance service delivery in hospitals, the Governor said the County Government has recruited an additional 48 health workers across different health cadres and emphasized on her commitment to addressing welfare issues of the medics.

Waiguru added that the ongoing upgrading of Kianyaga and Kimbimbi level 3 to level 4 hospitals is at advanced stage with over 70% completion and are expected to be completed by the close of current financial year, noting that they will ease pressure at the level 5 hospital which will then be left to deal with more complex cases.

She also enumerated the dispensaries that the county has constructed and operationalized to strengthen its primary healthcare as well as the onboarding of 1205 Community Health Promoters which has gone a long way in enhancing healthcare at the grassroots level.

The County boss also urged residents to register with theimproved social health insurance fund (SHIF) to enhance access to quality healthcare.

On agriculture, Waiguru said that over the years, her administration has invested heavily through Wezesha Kirinyaga program which support farmers to increase production and has now moved into supporting them in value addition and marketing.

She noted that as a result of various interventions, production of value chains such as tomatoes, avocados, macadamia, dairy, poultry, fish farming, beekeeping, dairy goats and pig farming, rice, tea and coffee has tremendously increased.

As a result of increased aquaculture production, the county government has opened a County Fish Aggregation Center in Kiaga which serves as a fish market, and fish inputs center as well as value addition center.

Waiguru also said that the County Seedling’s propagation centerin Kangai has been completed and set to start operating next month, noting that it will provide farmers with affordable high-quality seedlings in their backyards thus reducing the cost of production.

Through the county government support to the dairy sector through Rung’eto, Kirima, Podago and Rukingo dairy farmers cooperatives, Kirima and Rung’eto are already producing yoghurt as part of the value-addition program with Rung’eto having launched their yoghurt into the market, selling 1,000 litres per day. Kirinyaga Dairy and Ngariama Dairy are also set to benefit from10,000-liter capacity milk coolers, and backup generators to enhance their production capacity.  

The governor noted that the county has supported the formation of 20 Ward based Saccos to enable farmers access affordable credit, market linkages and value addition.

The main highlight of the address, however, was the upcoming Sagana Agro Industrial City which she noted would be the breakthrough in the county’s agricultural sector since it would address the farmers’ challenges with post-harvest loses as well as low prices during high production seasons.

“Having an Agro-Industrial City in our county is no longer a dream but a reality that is unfolding during our time in office!. It has taken a lot of collaborative efforts to achieve this great milestone and I would like to thank this assembly for their cooperation in laying the foundation for this project.” She said noting that the County Aggregation and Industrial Park (CAIP)is 37% complete while development at Export Processing Zone (EPZ) and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is also ongoing.

The major agro-processing factories being set up at the Industrial Park include tomato processing, avocado and, macadamia oil processing, coffee warehousing and processing and dairy value addition for both local and export markets. . 

The former Council of Governors Chair noted that the projects at the industrial park are currently a source of income for many young people who are involved in construction work and on completion the park is expected to provide over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs.

She noted that the network of markets and aggregation centres across the county will support the EPZ and CAIPS by easing the aggregation of agricultural produce, noting that her administration has constructed 18 markets, and collaborated with the National government for construction of an additional 10 markets which will give the county a total of 28 markets built since she took over the county’s leadership.

Other projects highlighted in the address included the construction of cabro car parks in Kagio, Kutus, Kerugoya, Kianyaga, Kagumo, Sagana and Wang’uru, construction of a Gender Violence Recovery Center at Kerugoya Hospital, completion of the Bulk Water and Sewerage and affordable housing projects in collaboration with the national government as well as bursary and free ECDE uniform projects to boost education.

The County Chief also hailed the county’s finance department for ensuring the financial health of the county through planning and prudent management of the county’s financial resources.

She thanked the assembly for their unwavering contributiontowards the achievements made. “As a result of your commitment and cooperation, we have continued to make significant strides towards the achievement of our county’s socio-economic goals. You have played a critical role in enabling us to pass new laws, policies and regulations which enable the executive to effectively execute their mandate” said the governor.

Waiguru restated the county government’s commitment towards Kirinyaga’s socio-political and economic prosperity through collaborative efforts in provision of better services to the county residents.