Kajiado Governor Joseph ole Lenku has said that his administration will focus on the municipalities within Kajiado County to ensure that they are properly resourced in terms of human resources, financial resources, and appropriate policies.
Speaking during the swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed board members for the Kajiado and Ngong Municipalities, Governor Lenku said that he will prioritise municipalities as the future is urban and municipalities are going to be the drivers of the future where many people will live in close proximity to one another and the government will easily bring resources to them.
While acknowledging that there have been continuous teething problems with financial constraints and lack of board members, the governor said that the county is continuously working to make sure that the municipalities are working efficiently.
“The focus of livable towns gives central space to our municipalities. Municipalities and our urban centres are our engines of development. It is to this effect that we have created a mazingira unit that brings together our enforcement, public health, environment and water teams to ensure we have people working together to ensure our towns are more livable,” said Ole Lenku.
Ole Lenku added that the issue of waste management is a huge problem for the urban centres in Kajiado, but his administration is working towards a sustainable waste management system that is going to address those challenges.
“While we were successful in moving the Ngong dumpsite, we are yet to fully renovate it into a proper public park. We know the misery and pain that the Noonkopir dumpsite is causing to the Kitengela people and we know the harm at the Kajiado dumpsite too. We want to make sure that we create sustainable waste management systems that will sort out the challenges,” he said.
He noted that there are many legislative concerns to be put in place but there are also many enforcement concerns to be reinforced.
“When we see people emitting raw sewage into roads and public spaces, that is irresponsibility, just as those who make road reserves their own plots are.” It is not going to be accepted. I gave orders that the roads be marked and we request that everyone who has settled on a road reserve give way so that we create decent, livable towns for all of us and the generations to come,” said the Governor.
The new board members were vetted by the County Assembly Committee on Appointments, chaired by Speaker Justus Ngussur last month.
Kajiado County so far has three municipalities, namely Kajiado, Ngong and Kitengela municipalities.
By Diana Meneto
