Nyeri MP faults predecessor on stalled public projects

Nyeri,

Thursday 21 December 2023

KNA by Samuel Maina

Nyeri lawmaker Duncan Maina Mathenge has blamed his predecessor over stalled projects in the area.

Speaking on Kameme TV Rikiratha talk show today, Mathenge termed the utterances as hypocritical owing to the fact former MP never pushed for the completion of the projects during his time in office despite having had an ear to the Government of the day.

 The lawmaker singled out the stalled Ruring’u stadium and scores of schools in the constituency lacking vital facilities like laboratories as case in point but said he was doing everything to have some of such projects completed.

 “It is unfortunate to hear those who lost elections last year coming around to blame me for the mess they failed to clear when they were in office. It is equally shocking to hear the same people pointing fingers at us for doing nothing in addressing the challenges bedeviling our schools when in actual sense the only thing they managed to do is to have such institutions get a new coat of paint while neglecting to put in place much needed learning facilities such as dormitories.

I have personally taken over the responsibility of doing something about some of these stalled projects including approaching President Dr William Ruto to have Ruring’u Stadium completed,” he pointed out.

Ruring’u stadium was commissioned by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta in June 2017 and was poised to be one of the most iconic sporting facilities within the Mount Kenya region. The stadium is being rehabilitated at a cost of Sh 450 million.

 Initially the project was supposed to be completed in December 2020 but has since stalled owing to a myriad of challenges including delayed payments to the initial contractor.

 Last year, construction of the fence stalled following a request from Kikuyu elders who had sought time to perform a ritual at the grounds before uprooting a Mugumo tree that is said to have been planted by former President Daniel Moi in 1978.

The MP also told off those criticizing the Kenya Kwanza administration for doing little in fulfilling its pre-election campaign promises and called for patience to allow the government to initiate each of its key projects on a need-to-need basis.

 He said it is foolhardy for anyone to elect a government or any leader into office and expect the same to tackle all the needs of the people at ago.

The MP also claims that nine acres of public land that had been earmarked for the national affordable housing scheme were found to have been allocated to individuals contrary to the law.

He said the said piece of land which is adjacent to Ruring’u stadium is marked as public land on paper under the Ministry of Housing and therefore puzzling how it changed hands and became private property.

Mathenge said he will pursue the matter in regard to the matter to ensure the parcel of land is reverted back for the purposes of building the affordable houses.

“I had requested the President to have the national housing construction project allocated a piece of land near the Ruring’u stadium where we have nine acres of public utility land. It however later emerged that this land which was property of the Ministry of Housing is now owned by individuals who have subdivided it amongst themselves. This development begs the question; who between private individuals and the public has a right to the piece of land?,” he posed.

“Those who purport to be the owners of the land know very well they did not acquire it through legal means. We should adhere to the laid down legal procedure when acquiring a public property if we hope to bequeath to the coming generation anything worth talking about,” he insisted.

During celebrations to mark this year’s Jamuhuri Day, Nyeri County Commissioner Pius Murugu announced that the government planned to construct a total of 200 housing units in every constituency as part of the affordable housing scheme.

This is after the State managed to resolve logistical issues that had hampered the start of the multibillion scheme which targets to construct a total of 250,000 housing units annually across the country.

 Murugu said some of the issues that had dogged the project included challenges in allocating land for the works but added that this has already been resolved paving for the start of the work in January.

“Nyeri had lagged behind in launching the affordable housing scheme due to logistical challenges and lack of clarity in terms of where such houses were to be built. But this hurdle has now been surmounted and we are now going to begin the work of constructing a total of 200 houses in every constituency starting next month. This project apart from providing affordable houses to the public will provide thousands of our young people with jobs where they can work as construction workers and even as casual labourers,” he said.

Courtesy; KNA