Kitui Governor Julius Malombe has highlighted transformative progress across multiple sectors under his administration since taking office in August 2022.
Speaking during the State of the County address delivered at the Kitui County Assembly, Dr Malombe revealed that his government had implemented 1,921 infrastructural projects across all 40 wards and 247 villages, with 989 of these under the Community Level Infrastructure Development Programme (CLIDP).
“The Community Level Infrastructure Development Programme is a key initiative that we conceptualised during my first tenure as the pioneer Governor, for equitable development, poverty alleviation and improvement of the livelihoods of our people in all wards and villages of our county,” he said.
On agriculture, the governor boasted of having trained over 527,000 farmers on climate-smart agriculture and modern livestock practices.
He mentioned how the revival of the Kitui Agricultural Show attracted over 52,000 attendees last year, showcasing innovation and technology.
“The Show attracted 30,440 participants in 2023 and 52,355 in 2024 and served as a vital platform for showcasing modern agricultural technologies, innovations, and market linkages for our farmers and agribusiness stakeholders,” he added.
The second-term governor announced that he was at the forefront of fighting water scarcity in the county.
He informed the MCAs that the county has constructed 347 sand dams, 19 sump wells, 60 earth dams, and drilled 55 boreholes, thereby significantly increasing access to clean water.
“Our county is endowed with major rivers – River Tana and Athi River – as well as five river basins comprising Nziitu, Enziu, Tyaa, Thua and Tiva. Therefore, the real challenge in Kitui is not water scarcity, but rather limited accessibility,” he said.
“In recognition of this fact, my administration has prioritised the construction of sump-wells and sand dams, which are cost-effective, reliable and sustainable water solutions.”
Under his tenure, Dr Malombe said that Kitui has increased the number of health facilities from 306 to 311 and operationalised key facilities.
“To enhance access to cancer care services, we operationalised the Phangisile Mtshali Cancer Centre at the Kitui County Referral Hospital in November 2023. So far, 3,806 patients have been attended to at the Centre with 188 currently receiving treatment,” he said.
He also announced a concerted effort to address the issue of infant mortality.
“In our continued efforts to reduce infant mortality, we constructed a 70-bed Newborn Unit at the Kitui County Referral Hospital and a Maternity Unit at Nuu Sub-County Hospital in collaboration with the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), reducing infant mortality from 47 to 13 per 1,000 live births,” he said.
On education, Governor Malombe said the county has built 179 new ECDE classrooms and converted 1,688 ECDE teachers to permanent and pensionable terms.
He announced that over Ksh.244 million was disbursed in bursaries while vocational training enrollment tripled to over 8,000 trainees, aided by upgraded facilities and the distribution of ICT tools and 660 sewing machines.
“Through the Pro-Poor Fees Support Programme, we have disbursed a total of Ksh.244.8 million to support 31,573 learners from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in universities, colleges, secondary schools, vocational training centres, and special needs institutions,” Dr Malombe said.
The governor also highlighted the grading of roads through the “Dustless Towns Programme”, which has seen roads tarmacked to bitumen standards.
He castigated the government’s delay in releasing funds.
