It will no longer be business as usual in Kiambu county as chiefs and their assistants will squarely shoulder the blame of persistent sale of illicit brew and other criminal activities within their areas of jurisdiction.
The County Commissioner Mr. Wilson Wanyanga warned that the administrators will be held personally accountable for the vice unlike in the past when a blanket condemnation was spread to the entire security team.
He was addressing a security meeting at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Kiambu where the Deputy County Commissioners, chiefs and their assistants were in attendance.
“We have fought these vices so many times and immediately the crackdown is over, people go back to their comfort zone as crime continues to manifest in pockets of the county thus tarnishing the name of the County” he said.
He said “From now henceforth, you have been given 100 days within which you are expected to wipe out all the dirt from your areas of jurisdiction. You must clear all the illicit brews, drugs the most notorious is bhang, second generation brews, organized gangs and other criminal activities.”
The administrator reiterated that government shall not continue to allow hard working officers to carry the cross on behalf of those who had slept on their jobs. “If you fail to eradicate the said vices, you shall carry your own cross as your specific sub-location shall be marked and you shall be required to explain why you have abdicated duty and not all the chiefs in Kiambu County as has been the case” said Mr. Wanyanga.
On transition, the CC revealed that Kiambu County attained 93 per cent in 2018 and impressed on the chiefs and their assistants to exert more energy so as to attain 100 per cent in 2019.
He told the chiefs to generate data of all the children in their sub-locations prior to the Kenya National Certificate of Primary education. After the examination is done, they will generate another one which help track down all the pupils and their destinations so that those that had not gone to school are assisted..
The tracking down shall help to ensure the 100 per cent transition that will see all of them in secondary school including those from poor and vulnerable backgrounds. The CC further noted that it was not proper for children to drop out of school when there were many avenues of bursaries that could support their education.
He said it was the duty of the chiefs and their assistants to ensure that they followed up these children in their homes with a view of ensuring that the transited to secondary at all means as the government had invested heavily in the education sector with a view of empowering the citizens.
Mr. Wanyanga reiterated that there would be minimal development if children discontinued education at class 8 as it was when they advanced to secondary schools that they matured and were able to be placed in the job market depending on their performance.
On enrolment for standard one, he told the chiefs that it was also their responsibility to ensure that all children were enrolled and that none roamed in the villages aimlessly. “You know these children, you know their parents and they have homes so it’s your duty to ensure that they all go to school” said the county commissioner.
He told the chiefs to identify negligent parents who would abdicate responsibility of taking their children to school so that they were held responsible and even be arraigned in court for child neglect. There have been cases of parents not taking their children to school for flimsy reasons, and that shall not be tolerated anymore by the government, he said.
During the meeting, Mr. Wanyanga was flanked by his security team Mr.Ali Nuno the Police Commander, Mr. Simon Etyang the County Criminal Investigations and Mr. Samuel Itegi from NSIS.
By Lydia Shiloya
