Kitui Governor Julius Malombe is received by the county assembly speaker, Kevin Katisya, to deliver the state of the county address on Tuesday, July 8, 2025Kitui Governor Julius Malombe on Tuesday raised concerns that political detractors and development saboteurs were undermining his flagship Kangu-Kangu water project in Kitui South subcounty.
He said the progress of the Sh839.7 million project his administration is implementing in partnership with World Vision is slow due to the ominous work of saboteurs.
He announced that the launch of the stalled but now revived multimillion-shilling project that will serve over 100,000 residents was shifted from June 20 to August 22, 2025.
“Regrettably, the implementation of this critical project has been hindered by incidents of vandalism in certain sections,” the governor said.
Malombe spoke in the Kitui county assembly chambers when he delivered the state of the county annual address. He was hosted by speaker Kevin Katisya.
The county chief said the sabotage was perpetrated by individuals acting at the behest of political detractors and development saboteurs wishing to deny beneficiaries access to piped water.
“I therefore call upon members of the public, local administrators, and the security agencies to remain vigilant and promptly report any suspicious activities or individuals to the relevant authorities for swift, lawful action.”
Malombe said since he assumed office on August 25, 2022, his administration had made substantive and transformative strides in advancing the development agenda of Kitui County.
The achievements revolved around the implementation of the county’s life-changing projects, programmes, policies, and strategic initiatives to enhance healthcare, access to clean water, road connectivity and food and nutrition security, among others.
“I am pleased to report that, in just two years and 10 months, my government has implemented a total of 1,921 infrastructural projects and programmes in all the 40 wards and 247 villages of our county,” Malombe said.
He pointed out that 989 of the projects were implemented under the Community Level Infrastructure Development Programme, an initiative that was conceptualised during his first term.
The CLIDP initiative he added was meant to ensure equitable development, poverty alleviation and improvement of livelihoods.
Malombe disclosed that in efforts to reduce the distance to water points, his administration had installed and rehabilitated 134km of water pipeline extensions.
Noting that the real challenge in Kitui was not water scarcity but rather limited accessibility, the governor said his administration had prioritised the construction of sump-wells and sand dams.
“Notably, a single sump-well has the capacity to yield approximately 200,000 litres of water,” he said, adding that they are cost-effective, reliable and sustainable water solutions.
Malombe said 19 sump wells serving over 5,000 households were done across the county. A total of 347 sand dams were constructed in rivers within the county’s 40 wards.
The governor said the health sector had seen the operationalisation of the Phangisile Mtshali Cancer Centre at the Kitui County Referral Hospital in November 2023, which had so far attended to 3,806 patients, with 188 currently receiving treatment.
“To strengthen diagnostic services, my government has reinstated the previously non-functional CT scan services at the Kitui County Referral Hospital,” he added.
In efforts to enhance emergency response and healthcare delivery, the governor said his administration had rehabilitated nine ambulances, raising the operational fleet to 26.
“We have also ensured the consistent restocking of essential drugs and non-pharmaceutical supplies across all county health facilities, strengthening uninterrupted service delivery,” he pointed out.
