Governor's Address to CA Fourth Session of Second Assembly 18_02_20

COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF LAIKIPIA
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
County House. No. 10, Mt. Kenya Road
P.O. Box 1271 – 10400
NANYUKI
Email: info@laikipia.go.ke
SPEECH ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE FOURTH
SESSION OF THE SECOND ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNTY ASSEMBLY OF
LAIKIPIA
18/02/2020
H.E. HON. NDIRITU MURIITHI,
GOVERNOR, LAIKIPIA COUNTY
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The Honorable Speaker of the County Assembly,
The Honorable Members of the County Assembly,
The Clerk of the County Assembly,
County Assembly Staff Present,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Mr. Speaker,
Honorable Members,
1. As I welcome you back from recess, I am most pleased to be here on this
occasion of the opening of the Fourth Session of the Second County Assembly.
I cherish the partnership and robust working relationship that we have built with
this esteemed house and the county executive.
Mr. Speaker,
Public Service Reforms
2. Honorable Members, this year, 2020, is the beginning of the third decade of
the 2000s. We start it with a renewed determination to build a first class public
service - flexible, innovative and high performing.
3. We are starting off the year on a high note because in 2019 a record number of
colleagues from other public services around the country came to Laikipia to
benchmark. A new work culture has evidently evolved in our public service with
our work force now keener on delivery of results. This is a clear testimony that
the work you are doing is held in high regard across the country.
4. We have continued to grow our own source revenue through increasing
efficiency and proper use of systems by our dedicated personnel. The Kenya
Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) ranked Laikipia
among top five counties in facilitating growth of SMEs. It is an indication that
reforms of our county public service that we embarked on two years ago are
bearing fruits.
5. It has been a long journey for these reforms to come to fruition. Important milestones
have marked this journey. Let me recount a few.
6. The purpose of these reforms is to put in place a professional and productive public
service that is responsive to the needs of citizens. Our customers demand quicker and
more efficient provision of services. Often, this implies using technology to deliver
those services.
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7. We started off by putting all workers under a performance management system.
We carry out staff performance appraisals twice a year where each member of
staff has to present an individual work plan with targets, based on the
departmental work plan and which in turn is part of the County Integrated
Development Plan (CIDP). This captures each staff member’s contribution to
the achievement of the CIDP.
8. The employees are also required to show the activities towards achievement of
these work plans by filling in timesheets on a weekly basis. This helps in
identifying areas of improvement and also rewarding good performance.
Skills Development
9. Mr. Speaker, skills development was the next critical component of the reform
process. Since we began, we have trained senior county managers on change
management, in Strategic Leadership Development, as well as senior
management courses at the Kenya School of Government. With the support of
KPMG, we have also been training a larger group of top county managers on
results management and the integrated county management system, iCOMs. I
now table the results management framework.
10. Twenty-five (25) of our accounting officers, chief officers and directors, are
currently undergoing post-graduate diploma course in project management at
Dedan Kimathi University of Technology. This is intended to improve project
implementation, aimed at ensuring a 100% development budget utilization, as
well as high quality projects, delivered on time and within budget!
11. Mr. Speaker, to ensure that the County has factual data on the status of our
human resource, the County Public Service Board conducted a staff audit
between June 24th 2019 and August 17th 2019. The audit helped in establishing
a skills inventory, plan for succession, identifying training gaps and formation
of a basis for the county Human Resource strategy.
12. Importantly, the audit also aimed to establish if employees’ skills matched their
jobs and advise if the county staffing levels are optimal.
13. Mr. Speaker, a number of employees were found to be wrongly placed and
therefore require re-designation. Some employees were not gainfully engaged,
while others have no education qualifications, including a significant number
without primary school certificates.
14. Mr. Speaker, and Honorable Members, the reform process has entered an
important phase where we have to embark on rationalization of employees. In
this first round, we have separated with one hundred and seventy-two (172) of
our employees whose positions have become redundant.
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15. While we have invested Kshs128 million as a send-off package to the affected
workers, this move will release KShs1.143 billion from wages and salaries over
the medium term.
Mr. Speaker, without health, all other human achievements pale. So let me now
turn to Universal Health Care - UHC
16. Honorable Members, my Government is firmly on the agenda of providing
quality, accessible and affordable healthcare to the people of Laikipia. Our
commitment to this agenda has seen tremendous growth in the number of
people utilizing our health facilities across the county.
17. This last January, the first two private insurance companies accredited 25 of
our health facilities to offer services to their customers. This is significant not
only because it is a first, but also as testimony to the quality of services
in our facilities.
18. For the last six months to end of December 2019, a total of 766,644 patients
visited our outpatient clinics seeking various services. During the same period,
our hospitals admitted a total of 14,000 patients while 6,828 children were
immunized across the county. I am happy to report that our health facilities
delivered 6,723 live babies of which 1,331 were delivered through the C-
Section. In the same period, our two Level Five hospitals carried out 1,334
major surgeries and 660 minor ones.
19. Mr. Speaker, these numbers show a well-functioning health system. However,
and as Honorable members know, there is a myth told that our health facilities
do not have qualified personnel.
20. I am pleased to report to the House that Nanyuki Teaching and Referral
Hospital has specialists in Gynecology, Surgery, Pediatrics and Psychiatry. In
overall, our service has Nine (9) specialists; Twenty-Eight (28) Medical Officers,
Nineteen (19) Pharmacists; One Hundred and Fourteen (114) Clinical Officers;
and Four Hundred and Fifty-Four (454) Nurses.
21. Mr. Speaker, we are continuing to invest in primary health care facilities
because we believe this is the surest way of achieving Universal Health
Coverage (UHC) for our people.
22. Our strategy is to invest in the diagnostic capacity of our dispensaries and
health centres, as well as increase the services available in them. This has
started with Wiyumiririe and Kalalu dispensaries. We have also established
maternity facilities in 16 of our dispensaries. Three weeks ago, we opened a
three (3) bed maternity wing at Nturukuma dispensary. Others with similar
facilities are Ol Jabet, Chumvi, Sipili, Muramati, Luoniek, Salama, Pesi, Arjiju,
Matanya, Wiyumiririe, Kalalu, Muthengera, Solio, Minjore , Karandi and East
Laikipia
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Spatial Planning
Mr. Speaker,
23. Allow me now, to turn to spatial planning program. Honorable Members,
planning, and in particular spatial planning, is key to any development
process.
24. My Government has begun developing a spatial plan for our county in earnest.
It is this plan that will help us define the economic activities best suited for
different parts of the county. In addition, it will help us define our urbanization
strategy.
25. This is critical in the development of our Smart Towns. The concept of Smart
Towns is not just about paving the roads or infrastructural development alone,
or naming streets. Rather, it is about having well planned towns that play a
specific role in the economy.
26. So as we embark on the development of the spatial plan for our county, we
should think around a number of questions: When you think of smart towns in
Laikipia, what are they? What is their character? What economic activity do we
associate with towns such as Wiyumiririe, Sipili, Rumuruti, Nyahururu, Nanyuki,
Kinamba, Ol Jabet and Naibor now and in the future?
Mr. Speaker, let me provide a brief review of our economy
Laikipia & Regional Economy
27. Honorable Members, let me draw your attention to the Gross County Product
(GCP) Report 2019, by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, and our own
County Statistical Abstract, 2019 both of which I now lay on the table of the
House.
28. By the end year 2017 our total county product was estimated at KShs 81 billion.
It is now estimated at KShs 120 billion. Agriculture has remained the key driver
of growth. In addition, construction and financial services have performed well.
29. Laikipia is part of the Central Kenya Region Economic Bloc (CEREB). As at
2017, the CEREB Counties had a combined economy of 2.1 trillion shillings,
making it larger than 21 different African countries, including Rwanda, Burundi
and South Sudan.
30. Laikipia is considered extremely strategic in its location. This is because it not
only provides easy access to most of the CEREB Counties such as Nyandarua,
Nyeri, Nakuru, and Meru, but also access to the counties of the North all the
way to South Ethiopia.
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31. I am glad to report that some firms have already identified this massive
opportunity and are putting up serious investments in our county. Among these
is Vivo Energy Kenya Ltd, which has completed a fuel depot with a capacity of
11.5 million Litres in Nanyuki ans the upcoming 40 MW solar power in Rumuruti.
32. The ongoing accelerated effort by the Kenya Railways to rehabilitate and revive
the Nanyuki-Nairobi metre gauge line is a further testimony to this strategic
location.
33. Honorable members, as we undertake the mid-term review of the County
Integrated Development Strategy (CIDP), it is my belief we should aim at an
economy KShs. 350-400 billion: That is 1,800 – 2,000 shillings per person per
day or about Kshs. 50,000 per person, per month.
34. We expect to realize this growth by expanding the area under irrigated
agriculture. That is why our water department is increasingly focused on water
for production. In addition, the Smart Towns program will continue to spur
increased trade & services. Further, we expect continued recovery and growth
of the tourism sector on the back of improved security and marketing.
35. Further, Honorable Members, we are pursuing the opening up of new sectors
of the economy specifically mining, as well as ICT.
36. We also expect increased agro-processing for example, in grain milling, milk,
tomato and honey processing. To ensure coordination of these efforts, we are
rapidly scaling up the innovation and entrepreneurship program.
Road Improvement program
Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members,
37. I am happy to report that we now have the ability to accelerate our road
improvement plan through the leased equipment program. We expect to
complete 300 kilometers of gravel roads using under this program.
38. Mr. Speaker, we have already started. In the last two months, a total of 55
kilometres of roads in Salama (28 kms) and Ol Moran (28 kms) wards have
been graveled to all weather status using the leased equipment. The cost of
improving the 35 kilometres is approximately Kshs. 11,000,000 translating to
approximately Kshs. 200,000 per graveled kilometer excluding the cost of
leased equipment. Including this cost brings the total to Kshs.300,000 per
kilometer which is three to five times cheaper than prevailing market rates.
39. This clearly demo55trates that our leasing option is indeed a much cheaper
option to improve the road network in our county. In addition, delivery of projects
is timely. With the rainy season now behind us, we expect to move with speed
to complete more work on the roads and overall infrastructure programme.
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40. We have contracted 3.8 kilometers with the Road Levy Maintenance Fund
(RMLF) for maintenance of our urban roads; 1.2km cobblestone in Wiyumirie;
another 2 km in Rumuruti; 500m of parking outside old market and new frontage
of new market. In addition, Mr. Speaker, we are contracting a further 300
kilometers of gravel roads with County Funds.
Laikipia Innovation and Enterprise Development Program
Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members
41. Our innovation and entrepreneurship program is coming of age. As a major
incubator and catalyst for both enterprise formation and support, it continues to
play an important role not only in promoting our Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) but also in linking them to the relevant partners.
42. In the current ecosystem of the program, we have two hundred and ninety (290)
Laikipian companies in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and value addition,
ICT, creative economy, engineering and energy.
43. To support them, we have twenty-three strategic partners. These partners are
drawn from various facets like the academia; Dedan Kimathi University of
Technology and Laikipia University; Government agencies like Numerical
Machining Complex (NMC); regulatory agencies like the Kenya Intellectual
Property Institute (KIPI) and Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS); private
agencies like AMSCO and Gearbox and donor supported agencies like Kenya
Climate Innovation Centre (KCIC).
44. Further on, within this programme, we have attained recognition as a model
county on matters innovation as shown by the continued rise in numbers and
exhibitors during our annual flagship demonstration efforts, the Innovation Fair
and the Indigenous Knowledge and Technology Fair.
45. So far under the programme we have forty (40) products that have already been
facilitated to enter both the local and international markets.
46. The programme has created over five hundred (500) jobs directly and has
eleven (11) products already certified by KEBS and a further twenty (20)
products ongoing. Again, we have five (5) utility models and patents filed from
KIPI with a further sixteen (16) ongoing.
47. Training, Capacity Building and Business Plan Development of the innovators
and their enterprises continues to be an ongoing process with nine (9)
innovators already provided with working space and a further seven (7)
enterprises linked to incubation opportunities.
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Mining
48. Honorable members, may I use this opportunity to invite you all to our
inaugural mining conference on Thursday this week. It is our intention to
develop mining and particularly of iron ore, as a basis for our industrialization. I
urge this House to urgently reflect on the needed legislation.
Positive Political Culture
49. Mr. Speaker, many have congratulated Laikipia leaders for the positive political
culture that we continue to cultivate. I want to commend Honorable members
for the high quality debate and political engagement.
50. I call on leaders from other spheres of life; in academia, in religion, in business,
in youth; as well as community leaders to join us in building high and positive
aspirations. Let us build in our people a culture of self-belief. One that
recognizes that we are responsible for our development and destiny!
51. Honorable members, the conclusion of the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing
census will no doubt usher in robust discussions on boundaries review. I urge
Honorable members to reflect on the principle of one person one vote, as we
seek to ensure that our 518,560 people have their fair share of representation.
Let me table for use of the House, volume 1 of the Census.
Mr. Speaker, and Honorable Members
52. As I conclude, let me reiterate my continued appreciation of the partnership
between the County Assembly and the Executive. Mr. Speaker, this
collaboration and partnership has been of immense influence in our ability to
conduct government business and position our great county of Laikipia at a
vantage point of leadership, progress and development.
53. As always, as we have said and proved over time, even a good thing, can be
made better. I wish you God’s speed and great success in your business in this
Fourth Session of the Second Assembly.
54. God Bless You all, the County Assembly, the people of Laikipia County!
And God Bless Kenya!
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