NYANDARUA TODAY Inaugural edItIon – aprIl-June 2021 11 #018Checkpoint NYANDARUA TODAY Mutamaiyo hummingbird Pg. 2 – Gov. Kimemia on why polluters Pg. 8-10 – Has your building plan Pg. 11-22 Pg. 23 – Road to Tokyo must pay been approved? #018CHECKPOINT NYANDARUA TODAY YOUR FREE COUNTY NEWSPAPER APRIL – JUNE, 2021 Did Al Capone live in Kenya’s Happy Valley? HIGHLIGHTS · COVID-19 sends UoN don on research across Nyandarua · Primary and secondary sources yield more than he had bargained for · County Government responds to concerns raised · For details and pictures, see pages 6 & 7 Australian High Commissioner to Kenya His Excellency Luke Williams (L, also inset) on July 28, 2020 visiting Kipipiri House and property within Happy Valley, Kipipiri Sub-County, where his dad was an assistant farm manager from 1959 to 1961. The envoy noted that the region has incredible natural and built heritage, with rich history. Photos / AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION IN KENYA HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR THE AJIRA DIGITAL PROGRAM? Through the Department of Public Administration and Information Communication Technology, this National Government initiative seeks to empower Nyandarua’s youth to access digital job opportunities and position the County as a labour destination for multinational companies. It also seeks to encourage local companies and the public sector to create digital work. Visit www.nyandarua.go.ke NOW for details! 2 APRIL – JUNE, 2021 NYANDARUA TODAY Compensating stewards of our water sources is a win for all BY H.E FRANCIS KIMEMIA, E.G.H, governments, NGOs and other In all this, the generous people their continued support. C.B.S stakeholders continue to of Nyandarua are managing the Why should they watch as the t is a priority for all Kenyans that contribute to conserving water and politics of water while conserving water they work hard to protect they can be sure they can always its sources for the benefit of all. our environment. flows past them into other towns Ifind enough clean water for their Now is the time to adapt the To us, managing the watershed and yet their environments remain daily uses. “polluter pays” principle and apply that supplies the water in the first dusty with no water for personal This need is not restricted to it to protecting water sources. place is a key component of the use or irrigation? traditionally arid and semi-arid The principle says that whoever entire water service chain. There is a programme already areas alone where water scarcity is pollutes must be made to pay for It cannot be considered in underway in Nyandarua that shows a cyclical problem. the damage the pollution causes. isolation. how this conservator’s payback In the central parts of Kenya I also believe that whoever Though rivers are shared can work: the Upper Tana Nairobi where water is seen to be plentiful, conserves must enjoy a pay-back. national resources, Government, Water Fund (UTNWF). climate change and human So, I propose the “conservator corporations and people of The model, started by the activities are having an ever- payback” principle, to balance the goodwill should invest to ensure Government of Kenya with private growing impact on water supply. costs and rewards of protecting that those who protect these companies such as Frigoken, For far too long, though, the the water we all need, especially as natural resources get something Pentair, Coca-Cola, East Africa efforts many people such as small- climate change increases. back so that they enjoy the fruits Breweries and Nairobi City Water scale farmers, local community Those who are conserving of what they forego for their and Sewerage Company, seeks to groups, and water resource the environment, protecting conservation efforts. ensure sustainable water quality users’ associations are making to water sources that many others Together with the Ministry of and quantity for all using the protect the sources upstream of use, and storing carbon to help Water, Sanitation and Irrigation ‘Abstractors Pay’ Principle. key water reservoirs that supply tackle climate change, need to be we are exploring ways in which Major water users or cities, have been neglected and commended and encouraged to the County can be allowed to put abstractors downstream pay their contribution to water security continue so that there is sufficient up water treatment plants with to compensate those who take downplayed. water for the country. partners such as the World Bank care of the sources and invest in Furthermore, county Nyandarua is a water-rich to ensure that water sourced from conservation upstream. Nyandarua and received in other The UTNWF has been county supplying many parts of His Excellency Governor Francis Kimemia planting a tree on March 3, 2021 towns is treated at source. operational since 2015 and a the nation: Nairobi, Naivasha, at Ragia Secondary School in Karangatha, Nyakio Ward, Kinangop Sub- Gilgil and Kabarak, among several By installing upstream Memorandum Of Understanding County alongside Akurinu faithful. 2,200 trees were planted to mark the others. reservoirs, we can ensure that with Nyandarua County was Church’s centenary in Kenya. Our Lake Olbollosat, on the Sasumua Dam remains full while formalized in August 2020, communities in the area receive through a conservation other hand, feeds the entire stretch construction of rainwater Co-ordination Act. from Laikipia to Wajir. water for domestic use and partnership with the global irrigation. conservation organization, The harvesting water pans, planting If we now enact stronger water Now is the time to At 2,340 meters above sea Nature Conservancy (TNC). grass strips, building terraces, policy and legislation to adapt this level, the lake is the only natural In this way our county can rehabilitating dams and planting adapt the “polluter make some money from the An expert in water funds, TNC for water protection, it will create water mass in the former Central trees for agroforestry. a win-for-all “from the top to the pays” principle Province. resource, and the people of pioneered the model and now Nyandarua can get some pay- supports more than 40 water Our tree cover has increased to tap,” and stronger linkages from With a 4 kilometre all-round and apply it to back for their conservation efforts funds around the world. nearly 30 per cent. the source to the user. stretch, it is also famous for rare through interventions such as This shows how it can be done. The writer is the Governor, bird species, marine life, and a mix In Nyandarua, nearly 4,000 protecting water major dams or other corporate The ‘polluter pays’ principle Nyandarua County. of both saline and fresh waters. farmers are benefitting from sources. social investments to safeguard the UTNWF activities such as is already recognized in our (@NyandaruaCG018) Environmental Management and An ultra-modern ICU for J.M, 47 years later! he J.M Kariuki Memorial County Referral all development partners, including the Hospital in Ol’Kalou Sub-County now Government of the Republic of Korea, for Thas an ultra-modern Intensive Care supporting upgrades at the hospital. Unit, ushering in a new era for residents of The ambassador, whose Government Nyandarua. has also financed post-graduate The move fulfils the second pillar of training for County Government staff, Governor Kimemia’s manifesto, in which he welcomed changes at the facility before committed to ensure that the County develops donating N95 face masks and sanitizers. an accessible health service that is preventive, Present was Amb. Gathoga Chege from the curative, responsive, efficient and affordable. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, County Executive The unit has served 21 COVID-19 patients Committee Members and Chief Officers, among and six who were free from the pandemic since other senior County Government officials. establishment in March 2021. Significant upgrades under Governor Kimemia also include renovation of outpatient departments; building of a modern laboratory and an emergency block; setting up of a dialysis unit; modernization of its radiology department and building of a twin theatre. Ongoing projects include renovation of the hospital’s kitchen; building of an ultra-modern pathology / morgue 700 facility and a 500-bed Level 6 facility PATIENTS which will be handed over to a contractor Established in 1974 as a sub-district on June 18, 2021. Established in 1974 as a sub-district hospital by the late veteran legislator hospital by the late veteran legislator Hon. Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, the facility Hon. Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, the facility has moved from serving 300 clients per has moved from serving 300 clients per day in 2017 to serving over 700 clients day in 2017 to serving over 700 clients each day this year. each day this year. His Excellency Governor Francis Kimemia and the Republic of Korea’s envoy to Kenya His Excellency Choi Yeonghan Governor Kimemia thanked unveiling a state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit at the J.M Kariuki Memorial County Referral Hospital on June 3, 2021. NYANDARUA TODAY APRIL – JUNE, 2021 3 21,887 get the jab done! NYANDARUA COVID-19 VACCINATION OVERVIEW AS AT 3/6/2021 COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF NYANDARUA HEALTH CARE SECURITY TEACHERS >58YRS TOTAL DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES WORKERS www.nyandarua.go.ke 1 Ol’Kalou 1216 593 2113 8006 11928 P.O BOX 701-20303, Ol’Kalou Telephone: 0202660859 Email: [email protected] 2 Kinangop 404 193 863 2876 4336 STATEMENT ON COVID-19 VACCINATION IN NYANDARUA BY H.E GOV. 3 Ndaragwa 194 108 438 1410 2150 FRANCIS T. KIMEMIA, E.G.H, C.B.S, RELEASED IN OL’KALOU ON JUNE 1ST, 2021 4 Kipipiri 137 45 371 731 1284 5 Ol’jororok 220 71 529 1369 2189 Subsequent to my update on April 13, 2021, I am pleased to notify our clients and the wider public that the second dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (AZD1222) is now available in Nyandarua.