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REPUBLIC OF KENYA SAMBURU COUNTY GOVERNMENT
H.E MOSES LENOLKULAL GOVERNOR SAMBURU COUNTY. MASHUJAA DAY SPEECH GOVERNOR’S MASHUJAA DAY SPEECH. Fellow Kenyans and Residents of Samburu County I’m greatly honored and it is my pleasure to join you and other Kenyans country wide to mark and celebrate Mashujaa day. This is a day our country proudly remembers and celebrates the lives and achievements of the sons and daughters of this country who have sacrificed their lives, time and efforts to take this country to the next level right from independence, the second liberation and now in the post constitutional promulgation eras. This is the first Mashujaa day we are celebrating as a county since the inception of the Samburu County Government. This makes it even more special to us as Samburu County. The mashujaa day originates and was born out of the great sacrifice made by our fore fathers who have put their lives in the fore and painfully fought for our independence as a country without which the present day Kenya could not have been born. This was in the year 1952 when Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Achieng Oneko, Bildad Kagia, Paul Ngei, Kungu Karumba and Fred Kubai were detained and a state of emergency was declared by Sir Everlyn Barrying then Governor of Kenya. As we prepare to celebrate our first Jubilee; this is a special moment for our country. I know we have our own pre and post colonial heroes who might not have caught the recognition of our past national governments but they actually did exist and played a role in shaping the future of this country and Samburu by extension. This include for example Lesuayi, the man who mapped out the boundary of Samburu County and whose work and geographical delimitation of Samburu still stands to date. Others include the late Leaduma who refused to collaborate with the colonialists and died in detention as he was not traced after his arrest. We have many modern times heroes in our county whose effort have not been identified nor documented. My Government will form a task force that will dig into our history to inform us of our past and present day heroes whom through county assembly legislation (by law) we shall continue to honor. This legislation will also form the platform and define ways to anoint our future heroes. As a lasting recognition, we are considering naming our urban streets after these heroes. Fellow residents I want to condole with other Kenyans and the families that lost their loved ones during the recent Westgate terrorist attacks and without going into immediate past also with those families who lost their loved ones in Waso Rongai and Masikita due to bandit or cattle rustlers attack. As you are all aware we are just months away since the formation of the Samburu County Government and the Government has largely been putting the necessary structures in terms of physical infrastructure and setting up of the human resource base that will form the back bone of our service delivery. We have established a County Public Service Board and the Executive Committee team is already in place. To date the key structures for the Government to operate have been put in place and going forward recruitment and infrastructure will soon be completed. I say this because the Samburu people like all other Kenyans are full of expectations of the County Governments in terms of service delivery. I urge you and assure you that my Government will strive to fulfill most if not all of your expectations. I want to reiterate once again that my pledge to turn round our economy for the better still stands and work to this effect has just begun. The time for political honeymoon is now over and we should as a Government and leaders of this county embark on serving the people and deliver our campaign promises and beyond. Your are all aware that we are starting this work and I indeed pursue this pledge while appreciating the fact that we come from a disadvantaged position as a historically marginalized most insecure county. Past government policies did not focus or take into account the development of the pastoralist economies and this has not only marginalized the county but has also exposed the population to the effects of the harsh physical environmental and climatic conditions and thus making people even more vulnerable and susceptible. Our infrastructure is currently underdeveloped and poverty is still in the upper limit compared to the national average while insecurity is still talking toll of our people and therefore negatively affecting our socio-‐economic development. My government sees a lot of potential and opportunity to turn round the state of affairs in Samburu County by putting in place measures that will resuscitate our economic performance for improved standards of living of our people. Our land is full of potential in terms of human capital, green energy, natural resource endowment or minerals, wildlife, arable land for agriculture, tourism attractions and range lands for livestock production among others. To reverse the trends the Samburu County Government will work towards reducing poverty first by putting in place immediate measures that will address food insecurity in the County. We pledge to create and maintain a vibrant agro-‐pastoral economy where value addition of our products takes centre stage. We shall establish abboteurs, tanneries, and milk processing plants among others in order to ensure that we are self sustaining and reduce dependence on relief food in the county. Plans are already underway over the next three months and beyond to promote food production by increasing the amount of arable land that is under cultivation through distribution of quality seeds and mechanization of farming To this end 20,000 tones of quality seeds are being distributed, and 17 fully equipped tractors are under procurement process. We have done FMD vaccination for our livestock and have so far vaccinated 10,000 and the exercise is ongoing targeting 40,000 heads of cattle. The tarmac of 35 Km the Rumuruti – Maralal road has just commenced to be completed in the coming 26 months and this undertaking is of immense significance to the success of our development agenda and also a great relief to the Samburu County transport sector. Over 400 Km rural roads are earmarked for grading in the county over the next three months starting now. The grading and improvement of the Maralal urban roads is starting in the next few weeks covering 10 Km of Murrum and 16 Kms for grading. This will go hand in hand with installation of street lighting for Maralal town. We will exploit the great tourist potential that is endowed in our county, and make Samburu an exceptional tourist destination. Plans are underway to establish more conservancies and promote ecotourism, refurbish the existing facilities in the county while at the same time vigorously marketing our products both within and outside our borders. We are already pursuing plans to reclaim the lost glory of the Maralal Safari Lodge and it refurbishing has started. Three conservancies are being established in the Malaso, Sugutua and Milgis regions. 10 Posho mills are in the process of procurement to specifically support the youth entrepreneurial business ventures. The education sector has started concrete plans this quarter to give a strong educational foundation to our children by strengthening and ensuring that they are all accessible to basic preschool education. We are embarking on building 40 pre-‐schools and recruitment of 200 pre-‐
school teachers is on course. The construction and reopening of Maralal polytechnic will also be accomplished in the next three months. Land and environment is our greatest capital resource and we should at all times ensure that it is sustainably utilized and safeguarded. We have started to take stock of our group ranches and the mapping has been completed while physical planning and streamlining of the Maralal urban area is also ongoing. We are taking an audit and mapping out of all public land and secure it for its rightful use. W e are in the process of developing an approved plan for Baragoi and Archers towns. Health service sector has been developed and our immediate plans include procurement of drugs, construction of 10 new health facilities, purchaser of an exhauster, and Tipa lorry, and ambulances for each sub-‐county. We shall also be equipping and refurbishing the existing facilities across the county. The fatal incidences of insecurity that have on many occasions taken toll of human life and hit the national headlines are indeed some of the outcomes and manifestations of underdevelopment and historical marginalization as residents compete for the scarce resources and strive to eke a living. Harmony and peaceful co-‐existence is a task that is in the top of our priorities and agenda. Our unique socio-‐cultural diversity should be appreciated as a strength as we relentlessly pursue measures to bring peace and totally secure our borders in order to recover lost time and engage our people in constructive and development oriented issues. As we embrace the converted efforts to improve security among them the “Nyumba Kumi Concept”, I warn those who are behind these heinous and criminal acts that their time is up and that they should look for alternative means to earn a living. I’m confident that the pledges we made and the plans we have to serve you will be achieved fully with the able leadership of the executive members and other Government officer. I have assured them of my full support while fully aware that mismanagement and corruption has no room in my Government. Our development agenda cannot easily be achieved without the full support of the entire leadership fraternity and I strongly urge all leaders to put the interest of the people first by developing a servant leadership attitude devoid of self gratifying political supremacy wars that were characteristic of our past political leadership. Let us all shut a new style of leadership where politics is not the defining factor. I equally urge the Wananchi to cooperate with your leaders and give us the conducive environment to serve you and together we shall build a prosperous Samburu County where everyone enjoys his/her freedom and rips the fruits of his/her hard work. Thank you all and may God Bless.