•Karimi said he will first set up a ward development fund for grassroots development and will involve electorates who will decide what to be prioritised in his five-year plan.
•The aspirant said he will consult MCAs and establish ward committees that will identify areas they would like addressed in the 10 devolved sectors.
Meru governor aspirant James Kirimi is seeking to endear himself to the people by beating the popularity factor.
If elected, Kirimi says he will focus on grassroots development, youth and women empowerment through new technology and agribusiness.
Kirimi is running as an independent candidate and will compete against incumbent Kiraitu Murungi, Senator Mithika Linturi who is running on the UDA ticket and Woman Representative Kawira Mwangaza.
In an interview with the Star, Karimi said he has crafted a model that will be felt within 100 days in office.
Karimi said he will first set up a ward development fund for grassroots development and will involve the electorate, who will decide what will be prioritised in his five-year plan.
“I will develop a county ward development bill. The bill will see all the 45 MCAs patronise between Sh10 million-20 million development fund in their respective wards within the nine constituencies,” he said.
Kirimi said he may need to review the Meru County Integrated Development Plan to match his 2023-27 goals.
“I need to have CIDP that is people-oriented and conscious to ward development. I will make sure it aligns with my agenda for our county,” he said.
“Through grassroots input, people will rise from poverty. Handouts are temporal, they don't work but I will work for a valuable livelihood.”
The aspirant said he will consult MCAs and establish ward committees that will identify areas they would like addressed in the 10 devolved sectors.
He said he will hold every executive member accountable.
AGRICULTURE
Kirimi is focused on boosting semi-commercial and commercial farming where large tracts of land, especially in Timau area, grow wheat and sunflower.
About 90 per cent of the households in Meru practice agriculture, and at least 60 per cent of enterprises owned anchor their earnings in the sector.
The region has large scale flower farms, small farms for subsistence farming and Miraa farming for which Kirimi says he has started looking for an expanded market.
Kirimi, who prides himself with strong business management experience, said he last year helped develop the Kenyan agriculture sector institutional capacity programme based on the Agriculture Sector Transformational Strategy.
He said he plans to utilise the ASTGs in Meru as it is instrumental in enhancing the agriculture sector.
“I led a team in developing the institutional capacity plan that is being utilised by migratory and invasive pests and weeds management strategy,” Kirimi said.
“The initiative aims at increasing value addition in bananas and potatoes, data and research to equip extension workers, proper use of land amalgamation, promote youth in agriculture and develop smart agricultural practices.”
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
Kirimi says he will create technology hubs in Meru to supplement the Ajira hub, under the national government.
He said this will promote youth's online presence and ease business transactions.
Kirimi said poverty and unemployment rate are very high in Meru, and he will borrow a leaf from the China Training programme to reduce them.
“I have already developed a technical model for training the students on what will happen 10 years from now,” he said.
“We shall start preparing the students to envision the future and create it now. While they do their vocational training, we shall set standards to be used for more than 30 years to come,” he added.
Kirimi promised to partner with non-governmental and governmental organisations in empowerment and growth development, including Japan International Cooperation Agency.
“I recently completed a research project with them and they are looking for counties to support. I believe we can bring more development agencies to support the growth of Meru,” he said.
HEALTH
Kirimi said Meru has made incredible strides in health and more needs to be done.
He said he would work on reducing maternal and infant mortality rates by equipping hospitals to increase life expectancy.
The aspirant said he will create a county insurance medical fund to ensure that no person fails to get treatment in public hospitals for lack of money.
“I will increase the number of people covered under the medical insurance scheme through a fund legislated by the assembly. The fund will cater for needy families,” he said.
“I will embark on an aggressive networking strategy that will attract partnerships, increasing it every consecutive year and marketing Meru as a health tourism destination.”
EDUCATION
Kirimi said he will increase the bursary fund from that of NG-CDF, hence the purpose of education will be realised and there will be increased access and training.
He said he will increase Technical and Vocational Training centres with each ward getting one and pay for the training of the tutors.
Kirimi said the Early Childhood Development Education centres which most of them are in deplorable conditions will be improved.
“I will improve the quality and relevancy of education to reduce inequalities,” he said.
“I will increase ECDE enrolment rates, offer universal education and integrate them all with information technology systems.”
CORRUPTION
Kirimi said he has employed a three-point strategy in fighting graft including structural, technological and people-oriented participation.
“Currently Meru lacks structural governance, I will use it to ensure the chain of command is not susceptible to corruption and the job design for each officer does not have perversion leaks,” he said.
“I will use technology in reviewing work processes, methods, equipment and sealing the gaps suited to perpetuate corruption.”
He said by recruiting high level and qualified personnel including county executives and chief officers, his government will create an environment where corruption is not tolerated – from recruitment to service delivery
“My competitors have long political records. I know that some of them have been implicated. In my government, there will be no corrupt deals, or reputational issues and will deal with it as such,” the aspirant said.
ACHIEVEMENTS
During his tenure as director, of National Strategy at National Bank, he increased the organisation's revenue in non-funded income by 30 per cent.
“I was the project lead for the integration of the Nairobi and Machakos county parking project that enhanced revenue collection,” he said.
Kirimi boasts of having been among the team that established programmes at Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission in Uganda and Tanzania.
The aspirant has been a lecturer at Strathmore Business School as a senior faculty in charge of the East African region.
He has worked for various corporations as a C- suite with over 20 years of experience working with FinTech Technology, Services and Banking.
Kirimi holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Management Leadership from Capella University, Minneapolis.
He also has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix Ground Campus Atlanta and a Bachelor of Science in Business Information Systems from the same University.
Kirimi said he wants to be remembered as a governor who created and oversaw the drivers for Meru and the Ameru community to be prosperous and united.
His greatest challenge, he said, was a lack of food.
“I often feel that my mother passed on before I could properly say thank you. The greatest challenge has been the desire to serve but no opportunity presented,” he said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris