Ole Lenku defends record as he marks 10 years in office

Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku. [File, Standard]

Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku has defended his administration’s record, citing improved healthcare, education, water access, roads and land reforms as some of the key achievements since he took office in 2017.

Speaking during the county’s 10-year development scorecard at Ildamat Stadium in Kajiado town on Thursday, Governor Lenku said his administration had transformed key sectors while acknowledging that several challenges remained unresolved.

“This is what we promised you. This is what we have done. This is what changed. This is what challenged us. And this is what remains to be done,” Lenku said.

The governor said the county’s health facilities had increased from 182 in 2017 to 298, while the number of healthcare workers had risen from about 1,140 to 2,014.

He said Kajiado had also progressed from having two district hospitals to one Level Five Teaching and Referral Hospital and eight Level Four hospitals.

According to Lenku, the county had mobilised about Sh3 billion in healthcare partnerships and investments, while the number of Community Health Promoters had increased from 785 to 2,086.

On education, the governor said the number of Early Childhood Development teachers had increased from 480 to 1,500, while the county’s average secondary school mean score improved from 2.8 in 2022 to 4.0 in 2025.

He said the county bursary allocation had also grown from Sh40 million in 2017 to Sh300 million in the current financial year, benefiting about 12,000 students.

“Education remains the best equaliser for any society,” Lenku said, adding that the county had also established seven vocational training centres from the two that were operational when he took office.

On land, the governor said reforms had resulted in the validation of 43,942 plots in 52 urban centres, with 39,837 allotment letters issued.

He said the county had also established a public land inventory and introduced alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to address land conflicts.

“Land in Kajiado must become a source of security, dignity, investment and shared prosperity—not a source of conflict and uncertainty,” he said.

Lenku further said water access had increased from 35 per cent in 2017 to 55 per cent, with 150 boreholes drilled and equipped and another 250 rehabilitated and solarised.

The county had also opened and graded more than 1,920 kilometres of roads and gravelled nearly 1,192 kilometres, he said.

Looking ahead, the governor identified the establishment of a university, strengthening the Maa economic bloc, protecting devolution, addressing the Magadi situation and managing the Amboseli transition among issues that still require attention.

“Let nobody mistake this scorecard for the end of our journey. The journey ahead must now be about building upon the foundation we have laid,” Lenku said.