Governor Ntutu, first seven months in office

Narok, Friday April 21, 2023

K.N.A By Ann Salaton

Narok Governor Patrick Ntutu’s development record in seven months period has been described by many residents as exceeding their expectations.

In his maiden speech during his inaugural event, Governor Ntutu promised to set aside Sh 3 billion for ward development where every ward, through public participation forums, would identify and prioritize the projects that would boost their livelihood.

First, the governor, in the company of the Members of County Assembly (MCAs), moved across the 30 wards holding public participation forums where the residents identified projects to be implemented based on their need.

Speaking during the swearing in ceremony of the new county attorney Allan Meing’ati and county assembly clerk Joseph Leng’eny at the County Assembly Chambers, governor Ntutu said 38 out of 41 projects that were being constructed around the county have been completed awaiting commissioning.

Ntutu underscored the good work relationship between the County Assembly and the executive that fostered development in the county.

“The MCAs have put aside politics to focus on development. They have supported my development agenda and that is the reason I am able to deliver services to wananchi,” he reiterated.

The governor said the projects are in line with the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) and after their completion, he will be launching a second phase of projects.

Some of the Key projects completed and launched under Ntutu’s administration is the construction of Sh 73 Million water project in Suswa- Narok East Sub County that supplies five million liters of water daily to more than 40, 000 households.

The Suswa project was launched by President William Ruto on April 15, where the president said the government has set aside Sh 350 million for water in the county.

The water pumped from the Naivasha Dry Port will benefit residents of Iseneto, Oloshaiki, Oltanki, Duka Moja Township and surrounding homesteads.

Suswa residents lauded the project saying it was a game changer that will boost both their social and economic livelihood as it will quench the thirst of residents who for a long time have walked many kilometers in search of the basic commodity.

Ms Christine Seeta Taon 52, a beneficiary of the project said she used to trek over ten kilometers to fetch clean water during dry spells and thanked the government for bringing water close to her homestead.

She said the many hours she spent moving to and fro looking for the precious commodity will now be saved for other activities. “Accessing water easily is the most precious thing to us women. You cannot concentrate on doing any other business if you know there is no water in your house. This was consuming a lot of our precious time that we could use to do productive business,” she said.

Suswa Ward Development Chairman John Meshuko said the last water project to be implemented in the area was back in 1978 by the then larger Narok North Member of Parliament Kantet Ole Tipis.

Meshuko praised the current county leadership for working with the locals and prioritizing their needs and putting politics aside to focus on service delivery to residents.

Another major project implemented by the current county administration is Sh 5 million water project in the outskirts of Narok town that will benefit residents living at Limanet, Ilmasharian and London estates of Narok Township ward.

The beneficiaries of this project have praised the first time governor as accessing clean water for their domestic consumption and livestock was their main challenge.

Joyce Naeni, a resident of Limanet area said their attempt to push the former administration to implement a water project in the area was futile as nothing happened despite their continued petition through the former MCA.

“We thought implementing such a project was completely impossible. We never dreamt of accessing clean water near our homes in the near future. But we thank Governor Ntutu because it has happened faster than we thought,” she said.

Other projects completed and awaiting commissioning is the drilling and development of a borehole at Emorogi area in Loita ward and a similar project at Sintakara area in Keekonyokie ward.

Projects in the pipeline include: construction of dispensaries at Ololulunga, Sogoo, Sagamian, Mosiro, Ildamat and Olposimoru wards.

The launch of the new Greater Maasai Mara Ecosystem Management Plan, Maasai Mara National Reserve Management Plan and the County Government Physical & Land use Development plan was a great milestone to the people of Narok County.

Governor Ntutu, in the company of Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza, and Environment Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya commissioned the new plan expected to boost the management at the world class national reserve in March 2023. 

Though allocations by the National Treasury to counties has been delayed, Governor Ntutu revealed that revenue collected at the Maasai Mara Game reserve is what had been driving the county’s economy.

A report from the Controller of Budget for the first half financial year released in February 2023 ranks Narok county the fourth in own source revenue collection for the period July to December 2022.

Nairobi city had the highest collection of Sh18.03 billion, Mombasa County second with Sh 4.81 billion and Kiambu collected Sh 4.14 billion. Narok came in the fourth position with Sh 2.43 billion.

The report ranked Narok County the best in Own Source Revenue (OSR) collection after it hit 73.6 per cent of its annual target, in the first half of the financial year.

“The highest revenue stream of Sh 1.72 billion was from Mara Game Reserve, contributing to 96 per cent of the total OSR collected during the reporting period,” read part of the controller of budget report.

It further indicated that the OSR represented an increase of 144.3 per cent compared to the amount raised in a similar period in the financial year 2021/2022.

Narok County approved budget for the financial year 2022/2023 is Sh 12.11 billion comprising of Sh 3.9 billion allocated for development and Sh. 8.21 billion allocated for recurrent programmes.

To finance the budget, the county expected to receive Sh 8.84 billion (73 per cent) as the equitable share of revenue raised nationally, generate Sh 2.43 billion (20.1 per cent) from its own source of revenue and Sh 833.62 million as conditional grants.

However, the Controller of Budget noted high level of pending bills which amounted to Sh 1.23 billion as of December 31, 2022, despite the availability of cash in the County Revenue Fund (CRF) account.

The report further shown personnel emoluments amounting to Sh 687 million having been processed through the manual payroll which is prone to abuse and may lead to the loss of public funds where there is a lack of proper controls.

Courtesy K.N.A