Nyeri, Kenya: President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to visit Nyeri County later this month, in what observers say is meant to calm the Central region following reports of discontentment.
The county has no representation in the Cabinet after Michael Kamau was dropped from the Government on corruption charges.
Leaders from the county were also at the forefront in calling for the resignation of former Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru, who hails from the neigbouring Kirinyaga County, over corruption allegations.
MPs from the county who called for Waiguru's resignation were, Esther Murugi (Nyeri Town), Kabando wa Kabando (Murkurwe-ini) and Kanini Kega (Kieni).
Their criticism led to an open bashing from other leaders, notably Governor Nderitu Gachagua, who accused them of failing to defend the Jubilee government against graft allegations. “It is unfortunate that when these three MPs speak, they are in support of the Opposition and siding with CORD leaders,” he said.
Though the date is not yet confirmed, plans to welcome the President are in top gear, with administrators and county government officials working round the clock. Excited residents are compiling a list of things they want President Kenyatta to address. Some of these include land issues, challenges facing the dairy industry and the slump in the coffee and tea sectors.
Also on the agenda is the fate of Nine Economic Stimulus programme markets, which are expected to be handed over to the county government in a couple of weeks.
On Tuesday, Housing Principal Secretary Aidah Njeri toured the markets to evaluate their progress.
With the expected presidential visit, some 800 colonial squatters from Iruri village in Mathira are asking the Government to resettle them. The village located two kilometres from Sagana State lodge, is among many concentration camps scattered in the county.
It is where colonial governments detained innocent people on suspicion of being Mau Mau fighters in 1952 to 1960.
Resettle debts
Through their chairman Richard Muriuki, the squatters said they hoped to be resettled at the expansive Solio ranch like their counterparts from Hombe Mworoto, who were re-settled in 2008.
“Balloting at the ranch was only issued to the rich and upon inquiry, we were told the were instructions from the provincial administrations that the land be given to teacher, doctors and businessmen,” he said.
Muriuki observed that since then, they have been living on a five acre piece of land located at Ruguru division in Mathira West, with their population on the increase.
He noted that on May 10, 2011, they wrote to Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, raising concern over the illegal acquisition of land and claimed State spent a lot of money to resettle squatters.
Subsequently on July 2013, they wrote to Gachagua, requesting for his intervention.
Isaac Mathenge, a coffee farmer, appealed to the President to focus on problems facing the sector.
This, he said, can only be done through phasing out all the debts owned and cleaning the mess that has impoverished farmers.
“The exploitation, corruption and rip off by cartels is doing a lot of harm to us and the economy at large,” Mathenge said.
He noted that cut-throat competition by millers and marketers is to blame for the scramble for dwindling coffee beans, especially in Mt Kenya region, as multiple players seek to have a stake is the sector.
Mathenge said the entry of the county government in the milling and coffee marketing initiated by Gachagua have not made things better.
Tea prices, according to Peter Maina, a farmer, have also been on the decline in the last five years, with the cost of production being exorbitant.
“Prices of farm inputs like fertiliser have skyrocketed, even as production remains constant,” he added.
Maina appealed to the President to intervene so that they can be supplied with subsidised fertilisers to enable them boost production and revenue base.
