The drive to make Meru great is unstoppable, according to Governor Kiraitu Murungi.
"We have a lot to do and I have no time to waste with busybodies, irrelevant noise makers," Kiraitu said during his second address to the Meru County assembly on Wednesday.
The governor said he has set up an all-inclusive government and that he works closely with Senator Mithika Linturi and Meru MPs. However, only North Imenti MP Rahim Dawood attended the assembly address.
Kiraitu said he has delivered on 14 campaign pledges.
"We know we are operating in a competitive political environment. Our political rivals do not want us to succeed; they are opposed to everything we do."
The county boss said he will deal with his political rivals when the time comes as 2022 is a bit too far. While he did not name names, this was viewed as targeted at East African Legislative Assembly MP Mpuru Aburi.
Aburi, who campaigned for Kiraitu in the 2017 elections for governor, is now a fierce critic of the county administration.
Kiraitu is a seasoned politician who has never lost an election since 1992. He trounced former Governor Peter Munya (Trade CS) as Aburi lost the Tigania East parliamentary race. The former MP was later nominated to Eala.
Aburi has teamed up with Munya who, at the weekend, hinted he will make a political comeback in 2022. He did not indicate which seat he would vie for.
Kiraitu said he was working closely with President Uhuru Kenyatta for the development of Meru. It was because of his cordial relationship with the national government that Meru was chosen to host last year's Madaraka day, he said.
The governor said he has set development committees to identify priority projects.
He said each of the 45 Meru wards has been allocated Sh20 million annually for their projects. His target for each ward this year is Sh60 million.
"This will be a total of Sh100 million in each ward by the end of five years and a total of Sh4.5 billion for all wards. This ward development committee has been a great success and is being benchmarked by other counties," Kiraitu said.
He said he has sunk 150 water boreholes at a cost of Sh806 million in semi-arid Buuri, Tigania and Igembe. Some Sh330 million has been spent on other water projects in the county.
On agriculture, the county chief has distributed Sh90 million macadamia seedlings to farmers and pledged to enforce the 50kg bag rule for potatoes to save farmers from exploitation by middlemen.
- mf mwaniki
