Meru conference start of better things for ‘Amerucans’

By Kiraitu Murungi

Kenya: The commitment to national development through our devolved governments has begun in earnest.

In my Meru county backyard, we successfully managed to host a two-day stakeholders’ conference dubbed “Meru Rising” to map out and prioritise the key investment focus areas.

The first conference was a strategic county development-planning forum and as a delegate, I could not help but reminisce on US Founding Father Benjamin Franklin’s words, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

This was the first time that all the top Meru leaders — politicians, academics, civil servants, business leaders, bankers, professionals, civil society and religious leader — came together under one roof to discuss the future of Meru.

Great minds

For me, it was a critical turning point in the history of Meru.

Like never before, hundreds of “Amerucans” as we love to call ourselves nowadays assembled at the Kenya Methodist University main campus to foster the success and prosperity of Meru County.

Leaders from across the political divide attended, united in a common cause; to offer progressive, visionary, and action-oriented leadership to Meru County.  My dream is to make Meru Great. We want our county to be among the wealthiest and most prosperous in Kenya.

Our greatest national and indeed county level challenge is the poverty of ideas. The critical challenge is not poverty, but the ideas that will pull our people out of it and help them make money. 

The National Economic and Social Council NESC, of which I was a member, was the brain behind Kenya Vision 2030, and the flagship projects such as Isiolo Resort City and the LAPSSET project. I am convinced Meru and the other 46 counties should set up a similar think tank to spearhead and accelerate socio-economic transformation.

Can we in Meru County irrigate 10 per cent of that (100,000acres)? Can we sink 1000 boreholes in the semi-arid northern areas of our county? I believe we can promote excellence in education by establishing a model primary and secondary schools and a university campus in each of our nine districts?

We can set up an Education Fund to provide scholarships for PhDs and postgraduate courses in medicine and engineering, build at least one major tarmac road in each constituency and employ youths to build cheaper and better all-weather rural access roads using local materials? We can pave roads in main towns, provide water and street lights and pave public squares? To attract investors, we can offer them free land and end corruption and red tape barriers to investment.

Building tourism

The County Council of Meru built The County Hotel and Mulika lodge in the 1970s. We can build a five star hotel in Meru National Park through a Private-Public Partnership with the county government? And why not establish a Meru County Conservancy in Meru North in partnership with Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, which was, recently named a Unesco World Heritage Site? And we can build our own equivalent of Mt. Kenya Safari Club on Meru’s side of the mountain, or Meru City Park in Gitoro Forest for picnics and recreation We can build a golf course by Meru University at Nchiru?

Reforesting Nyambene Hills and all others in Meru is possible in five years. And why not issue Title Deeds to all unregistered land in Meru County within 12 months? It’s about time we created a giant Meru County Cooperative Union and roast our own branded coffee for export and local consumption.

We can enhance our horticulture through value addition and reviving and expand our agricultural research institutes. We can invite private sector players to invest in agro processing ventures such as, fruit processing, grape and banana wine plants and vegetable processing plants? We can revive and expand dairy farming in Meru by creating a giant dairy union.

Through fishponds, we can make Meru the leading county in aquaculture. Can we build a major police station on the cattle rustlers’ prone corridor in Igembe North and several police posts along the border with Isiolo County to boost security in the area? Can we intensify police patrols in all our towns and market centres?

And how about strengthening the bonds of Meru people through massive annual festivals to celebrate the Meru County Foundation Daay? What stops us from institutionalising Njuri Ncheke as the unique symbol of Meru unity, history and culture or expanding the Meru Museum and erecting a statue of Koome Njue at Koome Njue Street in Meru town? We cannot build a New Meru with mere words, however powerful the adjectives we use.

The writer is the Senator for Meru County.