• Outgoing two-term governors include Jackson Mandago, Patrick Khaemba, Alex Tolgos and Josphat Nanok.
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Outgoing governors in the North Rift who have served two terms will hand over several incomplete mega projects to incoming county chiefs to be sworn in on Thursday.
The incoming governors have pledged to complete the projects, most of which are in the healthcare, water, infrastructure and education sectors.
Outgoing two-term governors in the region include Jackson Mandago of Uasin Gishu, Patrick Khaemba of Trans Nzoia, Alex Tolgos of Elgeyo Marakwet and Josphat Nanok of Turkana.
Khaemba will be succeeded by former regional commissioner George Natembeya, who has pledged to complete all projects initiated by the outgoing regime.
“There will be no need to start many new projects yet public funds have been used on the incomplete ones. We will re-plan and complete the pending projects,” Natembeya said.
The pending projects in Trans Nzoia include the Sh2 billion Kitale Referral Hospital, which has been partly done but is largely incomplete. Also incomplete are the Kitale bus park and several water projects in the county.
In Uasin Gishu, Mandago has said he is exiting office with is head high. He said he is leaving Uasin Gishu county much better than it was 10 years ago.
Although he completed many of the projects he initiated, three of them are pending.
They include the Sh1 billion Ziwa Level 5 Hospital project, the Sh700 million Burnt Forest Level 5 Hospital and the Sh1 billion 64 Stadium rehabilitation project.
Mandago, who has been elected senator in the county, said his record speaks for itself and he has spent well the more than Sh70 billion allocated to his county during his tenure.
“I thank residents of Uasin Gishu for electing me twice to serve as their governor and as I exit from office after elections, I will be a proud person for the development record we achieved during my tenure,” he said.
Mandago said he had helped to extensively improve infrastructure in the region, including walkways to improve safety for pedestrians in Eldoret town.
He said he had also helped improve lighting in the town, where before he took over most areas were in darkness.
“We have a better connectivity in terms of roads and improved business improvement because currently all our streets have adequate light at night, thus improving the security and working environment for our people,” Mandago said.
In healthcare, he said his legacy is good because he ensured all health facilities in the county were NHIF accredited, with adequate supply of drugs and other equipment. However, he said the greatest challenge is the shortage of health personnel.
He also said access to water in Eldoret town had increased from 48 per cent to 75 per cent.
Mandago said access to sewerage had also increased to more than 56 per cent.
On education, he said the county has helped recruit many youths in technical training institutes to improve their skills.
In Elgeyo Marakwet, Tolgos will exit before completion of expansion work at Iten County Referral Hospital and other health facilities in the region.
Mandago will be succeeded by Jonathan Bii while Tolgos will be succeeded by his deputy Wisley Rotich.
Edited by A.N