Laikipia County governor-elect, Joshua Irungu, has been urged to prioritize water shortage crises and improving security ahead of his swearing in on Thursday.
In an Interview with KNA, Charles Maina, a Youth from Nanyuki said due to lack of water for irrigation as drought persists, the majority of residents who rely on farming for their livelihood had been severely affected.
“Most people depend on farming to cater for their needs and due to climate change, farming has been difficult for most of us,” said Maina.
Maina urged the new county administration to work in tandem with the National government in lowering prices of other basic commodities like maize flour aimed at making life bearable to residents.
He further noted, the governor-elect, once sworn in, should address insecurity problems that have been witnessed in the past. “Security should be a core factor in all other development agendas. For instance, Laikipia wrangles between herders and farmers should be dealt with amicably,” he added.
Joe Kitili, a football enthusiast, said youth talent had been neglected by the previous regime and Irungu’s administration needs to consider promoting talents through allocating funding and rehabilitation of stadiums.
Kitili added that once the stadiums are upgraded it would generate more revenue for the county.
Carol Ndirangu on her part said, the focus should be on empowering small and medium business enterprises aimed at creating job opportunities for the youth.
Residents further called on the incoming county administration to embrace the smart town initiative through which about 10 towns are being upgraded by the Sh.1.16 billion infrastructures bond. They noted, the smart towns will attract investors in the region.
Irungu, who was also the former Laikipia county boss, said his administration is determined to improve healthcare among other issues affecting residents.
“Our main task is to ensure your lives improve and we are promising that there is a new dawn for Laikipia on matters of health, water, education and infrastructure,” Irungu promised residents after clinching the victory in the August 9 poll.
Irungu bounced back after defeating the incumbent Ndiritu Muriithi. He had contested with United Democratic Alliance Party (UDA) ticket and won with 113,783 votes while Muriithi vied with Jubilee ticket and got 48,563 votes. John Wakaba, an independent candidate, came in third with 2,657 votes.
Others who were in the race are Gitonga Kabugi of National Rainbow Coalition (NARC-Kenya), who had 1,713 votes and Kamau Mburu, an independent candidate scored 946 votes.
By Muturi Mwangi
