Devolution has made key great strides

Since the advent of devolution, governors have been accused of all manner of ills. These accusations seem to suggest there is completely no development taking place in the counties and that they are just dens of corruption, sleaze as well as misuse and wastage of public resources.

Well, I beg to differ, and vehemently so. The chorus of condemnation against governors obscures the tangible progress in a number of counties.

In Kiambu, for instance, we have achieved a lot in the four years since devolution was inaugurated, and we can only look back with pride. I am certain this is also the case in other counties.

The common man, who has been instrumental in the milestones we have attained, is a witness to the concerted efforts by Kiambu County leadership to transform livelihoods and improve the standard of living of wananchi.

It is worth noting that these achievements have been attained despite a number of challenges. First a lot of time was spent setting up structures for the new dispensation. The turf wars between the national and county governments on where each other’s roles begin and end has not helped matters.

The pioneering governors have, therefore, been beating a new path where there was none and that is by no means an easy task. As anticipated, counties have been grappling with teething challenges as is the norm with any new undertaking.

In Kiambu we have made important progress in a number of critical areas, particularly infrastructure and health. In four years, Kiambu County has opened up new roads and improved existing ones to ease movement of goods and services.

Approximately 1,400km of rural access roads have been rehabilitated while construction of new ones continues. Some roads are being expanded from single to dual carriageways.

ROBUST ECONOMIC GROWTH

These ambitious projects are motivated by the fact that sound infrastructure is a key pillar of vibrant trade and robust economic growth.

Another area that the Kiambu County government has focused on in the last four years is health. One of the key indicators of development is the health status of the people. Research shows that countries that take seriously the health of their people achieve development goal as relatively faster.

We have, therefore, set goals for the sector which we seek to achieve through enhancing access to health services and clean water.

We are therefore building new hospitals and clinics and revamping the existing ones. So far, we have constructed 21 clinics and renovated 15 health facilities comprising level 4 hospitals. A modern 400-bed reproductive health wing at Thika level 5 hospital is nearing completion.

Contrary to claims that counties are just sitting on idly on their laurels and waiting for the national government to give them resources, we have made fruitful efforts to step up collection of revenues at the counties. In Kiambu, we have automated financial management system to ease collection of revenue and keep corrupt elements at bay.

By installing an automated receipting and business intelligence system, we have been able to raise revenues from Sh1 billion in 2013 to close to Sh4 billion in 2015. 

The youth too have something to celebrate about. We set up in 2014 Youth, Women and Persons with Disabilities Enterprise Fund. This is meant to help these groups start sustainable businesses. To date, more than Sh210 million has been disbursed. 

These are real achievements that are benefitting the people. With more resources and well-established structures going forward, devolution will certainly meet the objectives for which it was set up.

The writer is the Kiambu Governor