Mutua nets Sh50bn in development deal with donors

Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua chats with a section of development partners after a roundtable meeting on development and International trade at his Machakos Office. [John Muia/Standard]

The county has secured commitments worth about Sh50 billion from donors to finance key projects in health, agriculture and infrastructure.

This follows a meeting between the county executive and international development partners keen to fund development programmes and poverty eradication projects.

“When I was running for re-election in 2017, I promised to use my international and governance experience to lobby for local and international external resources and investments to help us achieve our Maendeleo Chap Chap agenda before 2022,” said Governor Alfred Mutua after the Wednesday meeting.

In the talks, Mutua sought technical support on financial systems management, external resources mobilisation as well as revenue management systems.

To address the water deficit for the county’s approximately 1.5 million residents, the county boss persuaded the development partners to assist in construction of mega dams, piping for boreholes, supply of elevated steel tanks, water solar powering systems as well as construction of weirs whose at total cost of Sh957,203,200.

On healthcare, the county seeks partnership for cancer prevention and management, disaster preparedness, blood management system, community health strategy and advanced training for healthcare workers.

To strengthen governance and administration, the county government is seeking partnerships in staff capacity building programmes, office automation, county data center, e-government services and development of knowledge management systems.

In the area of cooperative development, Mutua seeks donor support in rehabilitation and revitalization of coffee sector as well as promotion of vibrant dairy sector.

Affordable credit

Also in the plan is ICT integration to cooperative sector, capacity building for cooperatives and access to affordable credit to farmers.

USAID deputy programme officer Stephen Fitzpatrick said the organisation had undertaken to partner with the county government to support healthcare, education and food security strategy.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official Jared Mark said FAO will support the county in bridging the funding gaps towards addressing food security and nutrition matters.

“We have established a desk in the county to ensure partnership programmes to yield the desired results. We assure the governor of our support in supporting agriculture and food security initiatives,” he said.

Representatives of World Bank, Amref and World Vision also took part in the negotiations.