Day: May 31, 2018

Makueni Governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana is set to host all the 46 governors in Wote for a peer learning conference to study the county’s successful public participation approach.

Prof Kibwana said the forum will bring together all governors and top county government officials from across the country to compare notes on various success stories including the public participation approach adopted by his government.

“We are happy that many counties are coming to Makueni to benchmark. This is very positive. We believe that each county has a story to tell about devolution and that is why we are opening our doors to host this momentous forum,”Prof Kibwana said.

He further said that the Makueni County’s participatory approach has given the people the power over public funded projects.

The idea he said was to ensure the locals own the projects and to widen the supervisory net with the people watching over those responsible for the delivery of various government projects.

He stated that it is through the public participation and the people’s involvement that the county has been able to roll out major projects.

“We are very conscious when people praise us for the achievements. But we must not become proud thinking that we have done it. All that is happening in Makueni is because of the glory of God,” the governor said.

Prof Kibwana noted that the approach has been used to develop annual budgets and the County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs).

“This year through the approach upto 120,000 people participated in the making of our 2018-2022 CIDP,”he said.

He said that Makueni County also has a lot to learn from other counties lauding Kisumu for the public service organization modelled along the national government system pioneered by former Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura.

“Meru is on top when it comes to the creation of various parastatals to undertake certain roles for the government. And we will be in Meru next month to learn a few things from their success stories, while Kwale’s structure of ECDE system is the best. It is good we now have a  maarifa center at the CoG from where people can access information on what is happening in the other counties,”Prof Kibwana said.

County Finance Executive Committee Member Mary Kimanzi said that a committee has been set to work on the conference adding that it will be modelled along the Universal Health Care Conference hosted by the county in April.

“This is a privilege for us. And it will be the first time all governors are meeting in our county. We will do our best to ensure proper planning,” said Ms Kimanzi.

Deputy Governor Adelina Mwau lauded the planned visit saying county governments’ now have a lot to learn from each other.

She said: “We previously had a lot of bench-marking happening outside the country. We are happy that now we can learn from each other locally.”

County Secretary Paul Wasanga said the county is ready for the event adding that the idea of creating informational convergence has given local institutions an opportunity to access information held by various counties.

Governor Prof. Kivutha Kibwana has told top county officials that they must subscribe to principles of transparency and accountability in the conduct of business to ensure efficient service delivery.

Prof Kibwana said that public servants are accountable to the citizens for their actions and service delivery adding that it is a great privilege to serve the citizens.

He further said that it was no longer business as usual when it comes to service delivery reminding the officers that he had to fulfill his promises to the citizenry which they together with deputy governor  Adelina Mwau committed  to through signing of the performance contract with the people of Makueni

“We must be accountable in our delivering of services to the people of Makueni. Serving our people is a great privilege,” the governor said.

The governor spoke on Tuesday at Maanzoni Lodge in Machakos where the deputy governor they addressed county executive committee members, chief officers and directors during the Kenya Devolution Support Programme workshop.

Prof. Kibwana further noted that there was need for change of the mindsets of the public servants if transformative results were to be attained.

His sentiments were echoed by Mwau who said that officers must strive to ensure that every minute and shilling spent should be accounted for through results

The DG said: “As public servants, we must be able to accountable of the resources entrusted to us and as such we must strive to ensure that every minute and shilling spent is accounted for.”

The three day workshop is geared towards enhancing public service delivery in the county institutions with focus on public financial management, civic education and public participation, monitoring and evaluation, human resource performance, planning and environment mainstreaming.

Governor Kivutha Kibwana on Wednesday flagged off Sh 300 million roads upgrading works to repair feeder roads damaged by heavy rains across the County.

The works involve heavy grading and spot murraming of 60 roads, two in each of the county’s 30 wards.

Speaking at Kalanzoni market center, Kilome constituency, where the exercise was conducted, Prof Kibwana said the county experienced pervasive damage of roads when floods hit, saying his administration will work extra hard to make the damaged roads motorable again.

The governor said the county government will partner with members of parliament to do more roads through co-funding with MPs dedicating a substantial amount from the Constituency Development kitty to this cause.

The county boss praised Kilome MP Eng.Thaddeus Nzambia, who has on various occasions fuelled the county graders and dozers to help in repair of dams and roads within the constituency.

Nzambia, who was present during the commissioning of Kwatuva-Ngiini-Kalanzoni-Kivandini-Mbondoni-Yaitha road said he would work closely with the governor to expedite development and uplift the standard of living.

The constituency is one of those hard hit by floods with many of its roads and several dams washed away.

Roads executive Eng.Sebastian Kyoni has reaffirmed that the grading exercise for all the roads will be complete in the next two or three months.

Deputy governor Adelina Mwau said opening up of the constituency will boost its economic productivity due to its proximity to the Nairobi-Mombasa highway and Nairobi City.