The Kiambu County Commissioner (CC), Wilson Wanyanga has assured area residents and stakeholders that all projects being undertaken by workers on the National Hygiene Programme (Kazi Mtaani) in the County will be done professionally.
Wanyanga while chairing a Kazi Mtaani meeting on Zoom on Monday noted, “we cannot compromise the quality of such projects as the citizens will look back and give credit to the Government. If we are not careful to choose the right team, we shall be held responsible and it will be too late,”.
The administrator emphasised the importance of engaging professionals to handle the technical part of the projects, noting that all workers engaged at the onset of the programme had no specialized skills like masonry, carpentry, reinforcing concrete and walling of a building to the required standards since most of them are those who were laid off in other areas when COVID 19 struck the country.
Wanyanga therefore clarified that “Feeling the harsh economic effects of COVID-19” is not the only condition to be considered continuously for the job especially on the legacy projects and that where necessary, the opportunity should be left to the professionals.
He reminded the twelve Deputy County Commissioners that their leadership and integrity shall be judged from the standard of the projects conceived and implemented to completion.
“These projects must be seen to be useful to the people in their locality so that they own and protect them as a heritage for remembrance,” he remarked
The CC lauded the chiefs and their assistants for their input in areas where such projects were being implemented, saying their knowledge about people in their areas had come at the right time.
Wanyanga observed that it was through chiefs that the administrators of the NHP were able to work with people by offering appropriate skills, those who were technical, experienced and those who were ready to work at the government’s pace without engaging in politics of destruction in the rolling out of the legacy projects.
“This is not a time for bringing activism in these projects and I instruct you to be firm and diligent in all your areas of jurisdiction to ensure that Kiambu County comes up with projects that will remind the future generation of the Jubilee leadership,” he noted.
He reiterated that the legacy projects were flagship in nature and that President Uhuru Kenyatta holds therefore making them a priority in all programmes currently being implemented.
There have been demonstrations by some workers especially from Kikuyu sub-county for late payment which the administrator said was a minor issue which was being handled by the National office.
By Lydia Shiloya