My great people of Gatundu South, tomorrow the 21st of April 2017, we will go to the ballot box to nominate a candidate who will be the flagbearer for the Jubilee Party in the August 8 General Elections. Tomorrow , it will be exactly 2 years, 8 months and 14 days since I was sworn in as your member of parliament.
In this very brief period that I have been your member of parliament, I believe I have delivered on my promise of laying the foundation for the social-economic take off for Gatundu South. On top of my agenda has been improving infrastructure as a key enabler for economic activity.
For the past two years and eight months, we have built over 200 kilometres of murram roads. We have also commenced the tarmacking of Kenyatta Road-Gatundu-Kangoo road, Kibichoi-Ichaweri Road (Mara Moja), Nembu-Gachika Road and Mundoro-Gaitete Road. This makes it 87 Kilometres of tarmac roads currently under construction in Gatundu South currently
Next week, a tender will be awarded to a contractor to commence the construction of the second batch of tarmac roads. This 76 Kilometres batch under KERRA Reference Number RWC 462 will see the tarmacking of Juja-Gatundu Road, Mukinye-Wamwangi, Magomano-Ituru-Gaitheche, Gatundu-Ituru-Kagumoini-Karinga, Muiria-Gitatiini, Ritho-Karinga, Kagema-Karatu, Ha Kimanga-Magemio-Kahuguini-Gathage, Kiamwangi-Muhoho-Kagunyi and Gatitu-Gichuka-Gitare-Gitwe Njemi
Two weeks ago, in partnership with the French government, we advertised a tender for the tarmacking of the first phase of the Wamwangi-Wanugu-Flyover Road covering 7.1 Kilometres. This tender will close early next month.
This week, we have advertised for the fourth batch of tarmac roads. This batch will see construction of another 124 Kilometres of tarmac. The roads covered in this tender include :- Kamunyu A, Kamunyu B, Gathiaka-Githuya, Marigi-Gatei, Karinga-Kimaruri-Wamuguma, Kuri-Cununiki, the completion of Wamwangi-Wanugu-Flyover from Ruburi onwards, Kahata-Munyuini, Kiganjo-Githembe-Gitwe, Kigaa-Thegi, Kibichoi-Kigongo-Kiganjo, Kigongo-Kagera, Kiamwangi-Kahenia-Karembu, Wamitaa-Gathage, Mundoro-Gikunga-Gachika, Mundoro-Flyover and Gachika-Mariguiti-Flyover
In total, this will bring an additional 294 Kilometres of tarmac to Gatundu South since I was sworn in as a member of parliament 2 years, 8 months and 14 days ago. In addition it will open up the link between Thika Superhighway and the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway through Gachika, Mundoro, Wamwangi-Karatu-Wanugu and the Gatundu-Karinga-Gacharage-Flyover road thus easing congestion on Nairobi-Nakuru Highway. Ladies and gentlemen, the state of our new look infrastructure in Gatundu South is sound
My great people of Gatundu South, I am a proud product of education. I strongly believe that I am where I am today because of education. My parents invested in my education to equip me with the skills required to survive in this very competetive world. Equally, in the last 2 years, 8 months and 14 days I have heavily invested in education so that all children of Gatundu South get the same opportunity that my parents gave me. In this very short period, we have constructed dormitories in 19 secondary schools namely Gachika, Gathiru, Ucekeini, Gitare, Kiamworia, Gatitu Mixed, Nembu, Kiamwangi, Ngenda, Kimunyu, Gatundu High, Wamwangi, Githuya, Gathuri, Ndarugu, Karinga, Mutunguru, Kamutua and Gikure. We have built a modern laboratory at Muhoho High, a multi-purpose hall at Icaciri, a complete tuition block at Ituru and we have also purchased a brand new bus for Kahuguini Secondary. Construction of a tuition block and dormitory for Munyuini Secondary is ongoing while we have already secured funding for construction of dormitories at Ndundu Secondary, Kiganjo, Ikuma, Kagio, expansion of Nembu dormitories and new tuition blocks at Ituru High and Muthiga Girls.
We have renovated many primary schools. Since 2014, we have consistently kept our promise to reward all kids who score 350 marks and above in KCPE with an all expenses paid trip to Mombasa
Since 2014 we have issued bursaries to over 10,000 needy students in Gatundu South
On tertiary education, construction of the Gatundu Technical Training Institute is 70% complete. The Kenya Medical Training College ( KMTC) has been operational since January 2016. To date we have admitted over 250 students. This month we have completed the construction of a new tuition block that will enable KMTC Gatundu campus to double its students population to 500. We also got a major boost in January 2017 when the Board and managenent of KMTC visited and aporoved our request to convert the build5ings initially constructed for Mutunguru Health Centre into a satellite KMTC campus. I am currently in negotiations with leading academic institutions in the United States of America and the United Kingdom to offer US and UK Registered Nursing (RN) courses in both KMTC Gatundu and Mutunguru campuses . This will see graduates of the 2 campus automatically get jobs in the US, UK, Middle East and Australian markets.
In November 2016, the Deputy President H.E William Ruto commissioned the Kiganjo Vocational Centre through a partnership between Kiganjo Polytechnic, the Export Processing Zones Authority and Rivatex Industries
Ladies and gentlemen, the state of our education in Gatundu South is sound
My great people of Gatundu South, access to power is very essential for our development. When I took over as your member of parliament, only 13% of our households had electricity. Today 95% of our households have electricity. There is an overhead power line in every corner of Gatundu South. Our transformer density coverage is 100%. All our shopping centres have security lights making Gatundu South the first ever 24 hour economy in every village. All our classrooms in primary and secondary schools have electiricity. Ladies and gentlemen, we have kicked darkness out of Gatundu South and it will never come back again
My great people of Gatundu South, agriculture is the backbone of our economy. 2 years, 8 months and 14 days ago, the cheapest bag of fertlizer used to cost Ksh 4,400. Many families simply could not afford that. As a result, food production was dismally low. Barely a month after I entered office, I prioritized food production as a critical issue. Through CDF, we constructed a depot for the National Cereals and Produce Board ( NCPB). Today our farmers pay as little as Ksh 1,500 per bag of fertlizer. They also used to travel to Thika for their land related transactions. Today we have a Lands Registry in Gatundu Town thus savibg them travel expenses to Thika. Ladies and gentlemen, with food on our table, we can now better focus on growing our Gatundu economy
My great people of Gatundu South, sports play a major role in developing the bodies and minds of our people. Sports entertain billions of people worldwide while our young men and women earn a livelihood from sports. In Gatundu South we have not been left behind. Today, all our 82 footclubd have been kitted with full uniforms including playing boots, jerseys, shorts and balls. In addition, we are constructing an ultra modern Karatu National Stadium which we hope will be ready to be used as one of the venues for the World Junior Championships in July 2017
My great people of Gatundu South, though we have achieved a lot in the last 2 years, 8 months and 14 days, a lot still remains to be done. I am seeking an opportunity to continue steering this bus of our development for another 5 years. We have many projects lined up and which are in delicate stage. They require continuity and institutional memory.
We are in the negitiations stage with the African Development Bank for a twin project that will ensure that all our people have access to clean drinking water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This will also come with a major sewerage system for the very rapidly growing Gatundu Town. We are finalizing plans for commencenent of the Rwabura Irrigation Project that will benefit over 10,000 families in Gatundu South. The University campus set to be opened at Mutomo is still work in progress.
Though Gatundu Hospital is an iconic medicare institution, the mooted phases 2 and 3 are still pending so as to make this historic facility a national referral hospital and a leading centre for non-communicable diseases in East and Central Africa
To ensure that these projects are carried through to completion, I am pleading with you to give me 5 more years to get the job done
Finally, having laid the foundation for economic take off, I will focus on two issues at the core of my heart for the next 5 years. It is unacceptable that our young people continue to stay idle at home without jobs. It is equally unacceptable that our people remain poor despite the fact that God has blessed us with proximity to Nairobi, a market of 6 million people barely 1 hour drive from the farthest point in Gatundu South. I am seeking your vote so that I can help our young people get jobs and our people take advantage of the Nairobi market through agriculture and enterprise development. And that is the crux of my agenda for the next 5 years. Jobs for our youth and money for our farmers and traders. Kazi na Pesa!
God bless Gatundu South. God bless Kenya. Tuko Pamoja
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