KITUI, Kenya, Jun 14 – Kitui is an economic sleeping giant endowed with diverse and massive resources that can be harnessed to lift up thousands of her ctizens from poverty and deprivation.
Speaking at Kefri Hall in Kitui town during a public sensitization forum on the Fourth Medium Term Plan, EAC, ASALs and Regional Development Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza said that the people living in the county could leverage on the programmes and projects outlined in the Bottom Up Economic Transformation blueprint to turn around the fortunes of the county and her people.
She said in spite of being semi arid, Kitui County was blessed with the capacity for dryland farming, abundant livestock, vast mineral deposits and wildlife parks suitable for tourism.
Malonza said a combination of the County Integrated Development Plan and the Fourth Medium Term Plan, that were both anchored in Kenya Vision 2030, would spur faster socio-economic growth for the county and Kenya.
Ms Malonza reiterated that the Government has delivered multiple projects in Kitui County towards improvement of livelihoods, enhancement of resilience and adaptation to persistent droughts in the county and the larger Lower Eastern Region.
She listed key development projects in the county such as the injection of Sh250 million for completion of Umaa Dam in Kitui Central sub county, Sh80 billion for Thwake Dam and the Sh1 billion for extension of water from Kiambere Dam to Kyuso Sub County.
She said others include the Sh1.5 billion extension of water supply from Kindaruma Dam to Mwingi West and the construction of the Sh487 Billion High Grand Falls Dam which straddles Kitui and Tharaka Nithi counties.
She also listed the Sh1 billion extension of electricity to all public institutions through the rural electrification project.
She hailed Governor Malombe’s administration for its unrivalled commitment to the delivery of development projects in all the sectors of the economy in the county. She said cooperation between county and national governments was key in the implementation of the Fourth Medium Term Plan of 2023-2027.
Kitui Deputy Governor Augustus Kalali who also addressed the forum called on farmers and livestock keepers in the county to embrace produce aggregation in a bid access better prices for their produce and ward off unscrupulous middlemen who lived off their sweat.
