Governor Mung'aro cabinet brings new faces to tackle county problems
Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung'aro when he announced the new members of the County Executive.
Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro has directed his newly sworn-in County Executive Committee members to start implementing his election pledges to the 1.7 million residents and prioritise addressing water shortages, low revenue collection and drought.
To boost the county’s economy and create employment, Mr Mung’aro is tapping into agriculture and tourism and automating revenue collection.
“We must enhance revenue collection through automation and seal leakages. We have seen what is happening at the collection points. In some areas where we are supposed to collect almost Sh1 million, the people manning those facilities hardly get Sh20,000,” he disclosed.
Mr Mung’aro urged the Finance executive to find ways of enhancing revenue collection and deal with corruption.
The new executives are Ms Ruth Masha (Gender, Social Services, Youth and Sports), Ms Catherine Kenga (Public Works, Roads and Transport), Mr Omar Omar (Water, Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change) and Mr John Ngala (Tourism, Trade and Cooperative Development).
Others are Ms Yaye Ahmed (Finance and Economic Planning), Mr Peter Mwarogo (Health and Sanitation Services), Ms Jane Kamto (Lands, Energy, Physical Planning, Housing and Urban Development), Ms Clara Chonga (Education, Vocational Training and ICT), Dr Peterson Mwagona (Agriculture, Livestock Development and Blue Economy) and Mr Henry Lughanje (county attorney).
The governor, who spoke on Wednesday during their swearing-in, also directed water companies, including the Malindi Water and Sewerage Company, to begin dispatching water using tankers to residents grappling with acute shortages due to the ongoing biting drought.
He said he will monitor the development of water infrastructure projects, including water trucking, water pans, boreholes and dams to address shortages.
“Water trucking should commence immediately. It is now time to work, not play games. We must respond to the needs of residents per our election pledges. I will be monitoring water companies to ensure they are efficient and deliver to our people,” said Mr Mung’aro.
He instructed agriculture officials to embrace climate-smart farming and new technologies to fight perennial hunger.
Mr Mung’aro said his administration will promote irrigation, improve extension services to farmers and value addition in high-value crops like pineapples, mangoes, cassava and cashew nuts.
The governor said donors, led by the European Union, were ready to fund agricultural projects in the county to boost farmers’ yields.
But he urged officials to ensure transparency in the management of donor funds to enhance farming activities.
He directed the health department to ensure there are free ambulance services to save lives.
“In the 2022/2023 supplementary budget, we will make sure we buy full intensive care ambulances to ensure our people get the services they deserve during emergencies,” he said.
“Before the end of November, we will have a CT scan machine for the first time in history to help our people.”
County assembly Speaker Teddy Mwambire called for good working relations between the executive and the assembly.
“We must ensure efficiency. Let us fix the mess and move forward. Governors have been having challenges simply because the executives have not been taking up their roles. Do not let the governor down. The people have high expectations,” he said.
The county wants to hire more health workers to address an acute shortage that has hampered services. Most patients from the county seek services in Mombasa at Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital, the largest Level Five health facility in the region.
