Education conference tops county chief’s agenda
PHOTO | JACOB OWITI Kisii Governor James Ongwae during an interview at his office.
What you need to know:
- The governor wants schools in the area to beat others in the country as in the old days.
- The agreement will see Kisii Level 5 Hospital acquire Level Six status, which President Uhuru Kenyatta mentioned during his recent visit to the county.
This will enable medical students from the region to access hands-on training at the facility.
Kisii Governor James Ongwae has prioritised plans for an education conference as well as completion of water projects in the coming week.
Plans for the conference come in the backdrop of the need to improve education standards in the region.
The governor wants schools in the area to beat others in the country as in the old days.
Mr Ongwae is happy that there are signs of improvement in the performance of the students.
The county is concerned with improving education infrastructure and access to quality learning for all, he says.
The conference will be held in August and seeks to attract key education partners the county will work with.
Inadequate water supply due to lack of proper infrastructure also needs urgent attention, according to the governor.
“I will move around the 45 wards next week to assess the progress of 300 water projects the county government initiated a few months ago,” explains Mr Ongwae.
He says that roadworks are also under way to boost trade in the region.
“We have done more than 400 kilometres of our access roads. I will be out there, inspecting them as well to enable our farmers access markets within and outside the county easily,” says Mr Ongwae.
LEVEL SIX STATUS
On health, Mr Ongwae says that a number of developments are taking place in the region, with the latest being an agreement signed with India’s Apollo Group of Hospitals and Kisii University.
The agreement will see Kisii Level 5 Hospital acquire Level Six status, which President Uhuru Kenyatta mentioned during his recent visit to the county.
This will enable medical students from the region to access hands-on training at the facility.
“Under an exchange programme, Indian doctors will teach our students here best practices in medicine,” says Mr Ongwae.
He explains that the county government is looking forward to improving service delivery as well as grow the regions’ economy to uplift the standards of living of the residents.
Dumping of waste is a headache for Mr Ongwae. There are, however, plans to establish proper dump sites next week, he says.
“We are keen on attracting more investment. We will prioritise best practices to maintain hygiene in the town. We are planning to buy land for a new dump site since the previous one was grabbed.”
More business will come up with budget estimates for the county’s next financial year 2014/2015, according to the governor.
He says informal discussions with members of the county assembly are going on, with the estimates expected to be presented as soon as the budget document is finalised.
