Dr Juliet Kimemia: My mission is to right wrongs in Kiambu County

Dr Juliet Gathoni Kimemia has made a choice to serve Kiambu residents as their governor.

Having served society in academia and different sectors, she says time is ripe for her to steer the county to greater heights of development.

But first she has to compete against formidable names in the county’s politics. She will be facing men and women at the ballot. They include Mwende Gatabaki, incumbent James Nyoro, former governors William Kabogo and Ferdinand Waititu, Senator Kimani Wamatangi, Thika Town MP Patrick Wainaina and Assembly Speaker Stephen Ndicho.

But Dr Kimemia is optimistic of winning the seat. She says her priority if elected governor will be to re-establish functional systems. She tells Nation.Africa that she is on a mission to right the wrongs she witnessed in the county as she served as executive for Roads and Trade in Mr Waititu’s administration.

She was sacked by Governor Nyoro, who took charge after his boss, Mr Waititu, was removed from office following impeachment by the county assembly, whose decision was upheld by the Senate.

The former Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) don will be flying the Kanu flag. She says Kiambu lags behind in development despite being among the wealthiest counties in Kenya.

“Having systems that work will help create efficiency in the running of the affairs of the county. This will help to drastically improve services to the people,” she says.

War on graft

Dr Kimemia adds that fighting corruption, which she claims is still rife in Kiambu, will be among her top objectives. To deal with the vice, she vows to seal all loopholes used to swindle public funds.

“We have heard of cases where revenue is collected but never gets to county coffers and money disbursed to the county is misappropriated or misused. I will ensure county resources are managed prudently by upholding integrity and transparency,” she says.

A county agency called Kiambu County Investment Authority will be created within her 100 days in office to encourage investment. The authority, she notes, will be necessary for creating a framework conducive to sustainable development and ensuring synergy between different sectors to maximise opportunities and job creation.

She also undertakes to clear genuine pending bills. She says many contractors have provided services and goods to the county but have been waiting for ages to get paid.

She would also restore good relations between the executive and the assembly to promote seamless running of county affairs. The county executive and MCAs have been embroiled in supremacy battles, with many officials not seeing eye to eye. This is a recipe for chaos and under-development, she cautions.

With Kiambu being an agricultural county, reviving farming is also on top of her manifesto. She is optimistic that doing so would create more jobs for the thousands of unemployed youths.

“Agriculture is the predominant economic activity in Kiambu County, involving approximately 80 per cent of the population. This, therefore, means it is one of the leading sectors in terms of employment, income generation and food security. Agribusiness is now among the fields generating a lot of income for those doing it,” she says.

In addition, she would create a policy framework for public-private partnerships to make it easy for state and private agencies to jointly undertake development projects and improve the road network.

Achievements

She says the ongoing Bus Rapid Transit project is one of her achievements.

The project, she says, was conceived when she was a board member at the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority. It is meant to decongest Nairobi by having special buses accessing the city using a special dedicated lane.

She also boasts of being the brain behind the creation of Kiambu County Public Private Partnership that brings together different development stakeholders.

To level the playing field in terms of campaign financing, she is rooting for a special kitty to support all female candidates in the forthcoming general election.

The aspirant observes that election campaigns are very expensive, making a lot of women shy away from elective politics. She has urged Kenyans to give women leadership a chance, saying they equally have requisite governance traits.

“Things are changing for the better and we are seeing more and more women throwing their hats in the ring of political seats. The future is definitely female. Our God has heard our prayers as women of this country,” she says.

She is an alumna of Ndoswa Primary School in Njoro, Nakuru County, where she was from 1974 to 1982 before proceeding to Kapsabet Girls in 1982-85 for her O-level education. She then joined Kipsigis Girls in 1986 and sat her A-level exam in 1987. From 1988 to 1991, she was at Moi University where she pursued Bachelor of Education.

She then joined JKUAT between 2005 and 2008 for a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship. The mother of three got a PhD in Entrepreneurship in 2016 from the same university.

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