Kericho County Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo has called on area residents to support Members of Parliament who advocate the use of part of the National Government Constituency Development Funds (NG-CDF) in the building of police stations in order to boost security and other services to the locals.
Mr. Kitiyo said that there were many services the police were offering, which included good conduct certificates, lost documents, police abstracts for lost IDs, and details of missing persons, among other security services.
The CC, who was speaking during a National Government Development County Implementation Coordination and Management Committee (NGD-CICMC) meeting in his Kericho office boardroom, noted that in the past, members of Parliament who supported the national government in putting up police facilities have faced harsh political wrath from the locals, who view the police stations as punitive places to lock them in whenever they are found on the wrong side of the law.
Kericho County Police Commander Geoffrey Mayek explained that police stations were important strategic facilities in the socio-development of the community, which included offering security, hiring police security for private security, internships for students who pursue degree and diploma courses in security, important communication on road and air traffic, hosts to key and important services like meteorological rain gauges, communication switch boards for the Internet, and fibre optic cables, among others.
Mr. Mayek said Wananchi should support the construction of police units since they will receive more services as opposed to only being police cells for criminals and other petty offenders.
Former Bureti Legislator Mr. Japhet Mutai, alias Kiptergech, faced backlash from the electorate for building Litein Police Station using CDF kitty and lost his bid to recapture the seat in the last general elections.
Belgut MP Nelson Koech, alias Sonko, recently finished putting up an ultra-modern police station at Sosiot Centre to serve the residents of Belgut to the tune of Sh9 million in CDF funds. The station was commissioned by Interior Principal Secretary Dr. Raymond Omollo, and the locals urged him to set aside a section of the station as an office to offer birth and death certificates.
During the meeting, Mr.Kitiyo urged the research scientists at the Kericho Veterinary Lab and agriculture department to assist cattle farmers in the lower Soin Sigowet area by advising them on the need to upgrade the animals using artificial insemination (AI) services for cattle in the area.
The CC noted that the majority of cattle farmers in the area were still holding on to the old traditional indigenous cows, which were not only small in body frames but were unproductive and offered minimal returns in milk and beef.
The CC said that cattle rustlers in the region like the small herds, with five of them being able to fit in a Toyota Probox vehicle, which makes it easier to hide and transport the animals without detection from owners.
To stem the cattle rustling vice, Kitiyo encouraged the farmers to inbreed the animals in order to have bigger and more productive livestock.
The CC at the same time reminded public servants to offer services to the public diligently.
During the meeting, which was attended by all heads of departments in the county, all national government projects that were ongoing and completed were reported to the committee promptly using the NGD-CICMC channels.
The CC observed that the National Government was injecting millions of shillings into projects in the county through national government departments, and wananchi should be made aware of what the Kenya Kwanza administration was doing for them.
Mr. Kitiyo revealed the projects, which include the building of an ultra-modern-storey library at Kabianga University, road network connectivity under the Kenya Highways Authority (KENHA) and Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), water projects, tutorial classrooms, and administration blocks through the Ministry of Education, among others.
By Dominic Cheres
