Governor strikes deal with NYS to build, maintain key county roads

Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Wesley Rotich. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Wesley Rotich has said his administration will partner with the National Youth Service (NYS) in road construction.

Mr Rotich said he had held talks with NYS Director General Matilda Sakwa and they agreed that the servicemen and servicewomen will help design, build and maintain key roads in the county.

"I shared a proposal that will see NYS partner and deploy their superior road construction equipment and personnel to areas with poor road networks across the county," he said.

The governor said a team from NYS will assess road projects in one week. He regretted that poor roads have seen farmers pay more to transport goods to the market thus reducing their earnings.

"We have a situation where potato farmers pay up to Sh200 for their produce to be taken to the nearby buying centres," he said. "In the event of poor market prices, they will always record losses. Some are even left to rot on the farm. With machinery from NYS, I believe this will be addressed."

Rotich said the county government will explore alternative ways of funding the development budget even as they push for more funds from the Commission on Revenue Allocation.

He promised that drugs will be stocked at the Iten County and Referral Hospital and sub-county hospitals. The hospitals have been hit with drug shortages in the past forcing patients to buy the same from chemists.

The governor said this after meeting with Kenya Medical Supplies Authority CEO Terry Ramadhani in Nairobi.

He said Ms Ramadhani assured him that drugs will be delivered to hospitals in the course of this week while the health centres and dispensaries will be stocked by next week.

Earlier, the governor held discussions with Information Communication and Technology Authority CEO Paul Kipronoh.

The authority agreed to partner with Rotich's administration to host the county's re-designed website and offer technical support as well as develop an integrated single revenue collection management system to enhance revenue collection and service delivery.