Engineer intends to re-engineer Laikipia

County Number 31 is Laikipia County. A versatile county that prides itself in being both a tourism and agricultural hub.

-By Martin Masinde.

But these accolades have come with a duller picture on the flip side. To start with, the County is staring at periodic clashes, human wildlife conflict, marginalisation and claims of a higher stake of the National Cake.

It’s for this reason that Henry Mbuthia KIMANI tossed himself in the political arena of the county as a Senatorial aspirant. Hearty, personable, easy-going, composed and firm in decision making are some of the attributes that describe the man with a pleasant demeanour.

Born and bred in Laikipia County, Mr. Kimani’s hat is well decorated with credentials. He is a mechanical engineer, accountant, economist and highly sought consultant. He strongly believes he is the ideal man for the job and he is vying on a Chama cha Kazi platform which is affiliated to the Kenya Kwanza Alliance led by Deputy President William Ruto.

He is a believer of hard work and no shortcuts to success.

“It’s by service and work we do we build our economy and development. These are my primary goals once in office as Laikipia Senator. Advance the agenda of our workers in all sectors for a better social standards.”

From the onset, Mr Kimani opines that Laikipia county is not adequately represented and that most of its pressing issues haven’t been addressed on a priority basis.

“Out of the national cake, only a partly 10%is allocated to the counties and this money is usually used for recurrent expenditure leaving almost nothing for development, “the bold legislator said.

Having served as a Chief Officer finance for three years in Laikipia County Government, Mr Kimani is optimistic that he is the change agent Laikipia needs. Under his tenure, Laikipia County scooped five awards for exemplary performance. These include: best county in tax administration, best procurement entity, best in pension management, best in revenue collection improvement and timely payment of salaries and contractors.

In matters infrastructure, the Engineer questioned why some neighbouring counties have benefited more than the others proving his earlier point that there’s no equality.

“How comes Kieni constituency, for example, has benefited from 420 kilometers of roads while in Laikipia a simple road from Rumuruti to Nanyuki which is just 70 kilometres is yet to be constructed? This is why I will prioritize on drafting a bill seeking to amend the Revenue sharing formula in order for meaningful development to be achieved,” he said.

On the perennial problems of insecurity, he intends to not just rest easy in his oversight role as Senator but to keenly ensure Laikipia residents are well protected and that the few bad elements are nipped in the bud. “People of Laikipia are always uneasy due to rampant insecurity especially fuelled by cattle rustlers from neighbouring counties. Barely a week goes by without a funeral of a victim of insecurity. I plan to end this menace once given the mandate of leadership,” he said.

He is also passionate about agriculture and has a roadmap of how to transform Laikipia to be a breadbasket. “Laikipia is blessed with a temperate climate. With construction of dams, we can put our land under irrigation and make our county food sufficient instead of relying on food rations,” he quipped.

Of course the interview did not end without the bold aspirant addressing the issue of human wildlife conflict in the area. He lamented how several people have been killed and others maimed by elephants with little being done to address the matter.

“Compensation isn’t enough. The authorities like Kenya Wildlife Service should do better and contain the animals by erecting electric fences in the game reserves to avoid loss of life,” he said.

Mr Kimani believes that progress can be achieved when the two tiers of Government work in tandem; that is the national government and the county government. The latter should present their irreducible minimums to the National Government to execute especially on the non-devolved functions.

Mr Kimani is hopeful of clinic the seat because of his elaborate agenda and he thanked the people of Laikipia for believing in his candidature and he highlighted on the importance of the senatorial seat.

“The position of the Senate is a very important one. I take it as a calling. This is why it requires someone fit for the job.”
In conclusion, he called for the voters not to be drifted by party euphoria but instead focus on those leaders with a proven track record.

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