The funds will  also  go into implementation of the second phase of National Agricultural Rural Inclusive Growth (NARIG) projects which include poultry, dairy, avocado, tomato and pig production among others

Governor Anne Waiguru while disbursing the money to various groups yesterday said the projects  were  being implemented by 314 community groups comprising of about 8,000 households.

Waiguru said that the funded projects were part of Wezesha Kirinyaga program which is aimed at making agricultural activities translate to better incomes and improved livelihoods of the county residents.

“The projects will economically empower the farmers by diversifying their agricultural activities to reduce overdependence on traditional cash crops whose prices at times are unreliable. “she said

Among the 314 groups are 45 poultry groups, 60 tomato groups, 30 avocado groups, 60 dairy groups and 20 groups each among pig farmers, beekeepers,  egg incubators, fish farmers, vulnerable and marginalized groups and 19 nutrition groups.

Waiguru said the poultry farmer’s groups have been funded to the tune Ksh. 22.5 million which will enable them to undertake mass egg production projects.

The governor said  the county will provide each of the groups with 1,250 improved Kienyenji chicks adding that the project will complement the ongoing phase 1 of the  project in which 32 groups are already producing eggs.

“We are also going to provide chicken feeds to  the farmers for the first six months of the project while marketing of the eggs is done through Kirinyaga Investment Development Authority (KIDA).’Waiguru said

She said the tomato growing groups will have been provided with Shs 30 million for the construction of green houses and drip irrigation systems to enable them to grow tomato varieties suitable for processing.

The project she said is in preparation for the proposed tomato processing factory that will add value and address post-harvest tomato loses in Kirinyaga and the neighboring counties of Embu and Muranga.

Farmers engaged in the growing of hass avocado have benefited with Shs 15 million which will go towards supporting them with seedlings.

The aim Waiguru said is to increase production geared towards feeding a proposed avocado packhouse while Ksh. 30 million goes to the dairy sector towards improvement of cow breeds through improved Artificial Insemination (AI) program.

The program has also introduced pig farming with already identified twenty pig farmer’s groups with support of Shs. 4 million which will go towards getting each of the groups a mother sow and 20 piglets.

The eventual strategy according to the governor, Waiguru is to construct a pig abattoir and engage the jobless youths with some positive gains from the project

Waiguru said they have hastened the issuance of the cheques to the farmers to empower them especially at this time where much of their activities have been affected by the Covid 19 related challenges.

“We don’t wait until next year to use the money for our campaign, we have decided to give out the money to empower our farmers and end the culture of handouts to our people,” she  said.

The governor said the program has also explored the potential in beekeeping by allocating Shs 4 million for bee-keeping groups.

The money Waiguru said will go toward acquiring 25 beehives and honey harvesting kits for each of the groups.

John Gicihira Gichini whom a Baricho  court described as dangerous to  his own daughters and those from the larger community will serve  for 70 years consecutively for the two counts of incest he  pleaded guilty to.

He was charged that on diverse days between  June 1  and 31 , 2019 he  had unconsented  sexual act with his 16 year old daughter  WXZ who has since given birth to a seven month old baby .

Gichini who was convicted and sentenced harshly  by the area Senior Resident Magistrate Antony Mwicigi faced a  second similar count which he also pleaded guilty to .

He pleaded that on diverse days between August 1 and 31 , last year while being a father to  the 14 year old  daughter XYZ  and while using force and    death threats defiled her within the family home  in Sagana village .

XYZ , according to records and a reported  produced in court indicated that she is now five months pregnant  with his  unborn baby.

Both WXZ   and XYX had told the investigating officer they would never wish to see their father for ever after consigning them to the laughable situation   in the society.

The court also heard that if the father was released back to the society he would continue to perpetuate his heinous act even to other girls thereby becoming a threat to the entire community.

While sentencing him to the long jail term Mwichigi reminded Gichini he had pleaded to the two serious counts even on being cautioned of the seriousness of the consequences.

The court also heard that the victims  would only feel safe if their father was incaserated  within  the confines of the prison to which  Mwicigi concurred with .

Mwichigi said under the sexual Acts , a person who  committed incest with his underage blood relatives was liable for  a jail term of between 70 to 80 years .

Gichini had earlier on in his mitigation told the court he had been misled by the devil to commit the offence .

“No one has never sinned as   error is to human, “he told the court in his brief mitigation while seeking for forgiveness     from his daughters and the court .

The court further heard how Gichini   fled from the family home after the matter came into the limelight and remained in his hideout until early this month when he switched his phone .

After switching the phone , he traced at Kiritiri area of Mbeere  South Sub- county where detectives who were  tracking his movements  arrested him and brought  him to the Sagana police station before being charged with the two incest counts.

Gichini’s estranged wife who was in court thanked the Judiciary for serving her daughters with  justice .

“By the time this dangerous man completed his 140 years ,my daughters will have healed from the  deep psychological injuries he had inflicted in them ,”she told the media outside the court premised after the  sentence was handed down .

The matter had generated a lot of public interests after the Kirinyaga Woman Representative Wangui Ngirichi and her Uasin Gishu counterpart Gladys Sholei visited  the victims in December  last year where they called on the law enforcing  agents to move fast and arrest  the suspect .

The court  also heard that even the  daughters  have  and will give birth  to will remain traumatized for  ever once they realised  who  sired  them while the victims will live with the shame for the rest of their lives

According to the National Police Service Chairman Eliud Kinuthia the project should be reviewed to enable the government to continue, improve or abolish it altogether depending on the outcome of the study.

The official said the program was rolled out to address the acute shortage of houses   within the respective police lines and as a means to integrate police officers with civilians.

He said police officers living outside their duty stations were being paid a house allowance commensurate with the ranks

Speaking to  the media at Wanguru police  station , Kinuthia said the Service was aware of some officers who hail from well up families were uncomfortable with the houses available within their working stations  but everything was being done to improve them.

Kinuthia said he was also aware some officers who have been through mental anguish due to the nature of their work.

He also said some officers who come from bandit prone areas were likely to experience mental disorders and  end up committing heinous acts  as recently witnessed in the area .

“Some officers who are the first to visit scenes of accidents, murders and all sorts of social  upheavals end up being traumatized   with  some even having lasting psychological illness  a phenomenon we are seriously addressing ,”Kinuthia said.

Kinuthia also said some officers had a tendency like any other human beings borrow hefty loans they were unable  to service thereby ending up suffering financially and prone to domestic violence .

The  official was  in the area to  console the officers whose  colleague was shot dead at the Gathigiriri G.K senior staff quarters recently over a love triangle .

The prison Warder on shooting the officer  then shot himself  though the  head and died on the spot .

“Young men and women who have no experience in marital matters have been caught up in love triangle webs leading to deaths or seriously injuries hence urgent need to counsel them and also for them to speak out”, he added .

She said a total of 40,000 children were set to benefit from the roll out of the fund outside her Kutus town offices yesterday.

She said out of the 40,000 beneficiaries identified, 32,000 were secondary school students, while the rest were University and those in various Tertiary institutions.

The Governor asked all the beneficiaries to put extra efforts in their school work so that once successful, they could in return assist others in future.

She also asked the area County Assembly members to continue supporting her projects she had initiated in the  area in an effort to improve the living standards of  the residents .

Waiguru  singled out the ongoing construction of the   state of the arts Kerugoya referral hospital  which when complete will have a 300 bed capacity .

“This facility will  have an ICU and a HDU  and piped Oxygen  gas supply to every bed making it the best in the region  and for the best  interest of our people ,”she said.

At the same time Waiguru has assured area residents  that those dispensaries  which had been abandoned will soon be completed in an effort to bring services closer to the people .

She also said  Sh 300 million has been set  aside for the construction of a tomato processing factory at Kangai Ward.

She said  the search  for some land to put up the facility was ongoing and once identified construction would commence immediately .

The  governor further said an avocado processing factory was  set to be put up at Kanyekini  Ward in readiness for the upcoming first crop of the  harsh  variety .

“We are also   set to establish a rice husk factory in Mwea where timber and building boards will be manufactured  using the byproduct farmers had been discarding  since  the irrigation scheme was established in 1956,”she said.

Accompanied by a battery of MCAs Waiguru said she will wait  for the people to decide  the direction  the county will head to on the BBI, while the Assembly Majority Leader Kamau Murango said the  Initiative was unpopular in the area .

“Although I talk little  politics very few people  can rival me on matters development  and service delivery as evident by the way I have transformed  the face of Kerugoya  as well as Kutus and Kagio towns ,”she said.

She said more development projects will be rolled out this year in the corners of the county

Muraguri who spoke to the media after making an impromptu inspection of various schools in the county this morning  said arrangements have been put  in place to go for the children  who are yet to report back .
He told the media at the Good Shepherd Academy , Kerugoya  said  he was also satisfied with the  observance  of the   covid – 19 protocols also directed by the  relevant government agents.

“Of interest to me was that  children including those with various challenges especially those we found at the Kerugoya school for the  Deaf were fully aware of the  pandemic and how to prevent themselves from it , “he said.
Muraguri said though the Deaf  the children had mastered through their sign language all the preventative measures related    to the disease  hence success   in  the  fight.

Accompanied by  the area County Commissioner Jim Njoka , the PS   also said the government was awere of the urgent need to hire more teachers to conform with the standard requirements of the teacher- child ratio.
“The government is concerned with the school enrolment rate as well as provision of quality education  hence the urge for those  yet to report back do so immediately to enable  us ensure equitable distribution of  available resources, “he said.

The school Director Mugo Mutonge said he had moved fast to decongest the  dormitories  by ensuring only double decker beds and not triple ones were being used at the facility .
“We have also ensured classrooms were in total  conformity  with the guidelines provided by the government of  1.5 meters between children  as you   can see in all  our classes as well as the  modern dining hall we managed to put last year in readiness for the children this term” he said

He said due to the prevailing economic hardships some 54 parents  mostly from Nairobi County  had withdrawn their children  from  the school while  94 others had joined  in this term.

A fierce fire has reduced to ashes a Jua Kali Artsan shed in Kerugoya   town leaving the proprietor counting heavy loses.

The fire which started  in the modern furniture  shed shortly after 8 am this morning  developed into a raging inferno due to the timber and highly inflammable material stored there in.

Foam sponges the carpenter was using to make sofa sets , turpentine and  other items grossly  contributed  to the speed  at which the fire spread .

The County Fire Brigade was said to have taken time to respond leading to the rapid spread of the fire.

“When the fire engine finally arrived at the scene, its high speed  horse pipe  could only eject out  water droplets leaving  curious Wananchi watching kin disbelieve ,”a witness  said.

Also reduced to a shell was a vehicle which had been parked outside the high end workshop .

The owner was later   spotted weeping on finding just shell of what used to be his vehicle  .

It claimed  the vehicle  had developed some mechanical problems which forced the owner to park it there as he went to seek for a mechanic.

Later water bowser from the county drove to the scene albeit too late since the  iron/timber structure  had already been razed to the  ground .

It could not however be established immediately what caused the  fire , though it appeared  it originated from  inside  the well-stocked workshop .

Nothing could be salvaged from the workshop due to the high intensity caused by the fire while the losses were estimated to run into millions of shillings due to the high quality of the items the proprietor used to make .

The proprietor of the business  Mr   Eliakim Otieno Obadha  who is the best rated carpenter in the county could not reached for comments as he was reportedly in deed shock on leaning of the incident .

Due to the just started   January dry spell this is likely to be the trend  in most parts of the country .

Ironically no police officer was within the site despite an AP camp and the local Police station being within the vicinity of the incident except disillusioned area residents

The adherent John Gichira Gichini now stares to life  imprisonment after pleading to   the  two charges of defiling and siring with his teenage daughter while the other on is five months  pregnant, according to the prosecution.

Gichini 51 , entered the plea of guilty when he appeared before the Baricho Senior  Principal Magistrate  Antony Mwicigi this morning .

The daughters are aged 16 and 14  years respectively while  they have since dropped  out of school.

The adherent who appeared at an open court due to the covid-19 health protocols was still donning his pink turban   and handcuffed.

Gichini was said to have committed the first incest on diverse days  between June 1 to   30 , 2019 while the second one  was  on diverse days between August 1 and 30  last year according to the charge sheet presented  to the  court by the prosecutor  Patricia Gikunju.

The prosecution asked the court  to remand   Gichini for seven more days at the  police station awaiting sentence to enable her and the investigators obtain birth  certificates for the minors  to ascertain their true ages  and other related  documents .

He had  threatened the minors with death if they ever told anyone about the incest ordeal  with him but the situation exploded after a relative found out .

The  case will now come up for a mention on January 7 while Gichini  will be remanded at the Sagana police station till them.

He was arrested last Sunday from a hideout in Mbeere South Sub-county after  the plight of the girls came into the public limelight  early last month .

Detectives privy to the case said Gichini switched off his mobile phone upon learning he was wanted over the incest and fled from his Sagana home .

The sleuths said  after Gichini switched on the phone on Sunday , they were able to arrest him as their tracking device led them to the hideout .

Last month on learning of the incident Kirinyaga Woman Representative Wangui Ngirichi and her Uasin Gishu counterpart Gladys Sholei paid the minors a visit and condemned the beastly act by their father.

The two leaders urged the police to live no stone unturned until the suspect was arrested and brought to book.

This morning Ngirichi thanked the law enforcers for apprehending the suspect and arraigning him in court to answer for the immoral crime against his own daughters and which he has since pleaded guilty to.

From left to right Gichugu MP Gichimu Githinji, his Mwea counterpart Kabinga Wachira and the Kirinyaga Central colleague Munene Wambugu addressing the media ouside Kiamachiri Anglican Church within Kagio town this afternoon after attending a Sunday Service.

Elected leaders  who  are fond of finding faults in the government  to start criticizing it should resign and join the opposition to avoid double speak and conflicts of interest.

Mwea MP Kabinga Wachira said such leaders were keenly waiting to count the faults the school opening will have tomorrow to start making a political capital out of such misfortunes.

He said schools having remained for more than nine months will certainly have some challenges reopening tomorrow but  leaders should come up  with solutions and not unwarranted criticism.

Speaking to the Media  at Kiamachiri  Anglican church   in his  constituency after attending a Sunday  service the   first time legislator urged such leaders still in the government  to  quit at this earliest opportunity instead of causing unnecessary rifts.

“ With the country still reeling from the negative effects  caused into all the sectors by the corona  pandemic  it was expected that leaders worth  being holders  of elective positions should move in one direction in support of the many efforts  the government was making to put the nation back on its feet, “he said.

Accompanied by his Gichugu and Kirinyaga Central counterparts Gichimu Githinji and Munene Wambugu respectively   , Wachira      thanked the government for embarking on project s in his area worth Sh  50 billion .

“Some  of these projects include tarmacking of various roads, the KEMRI , Thiba dam  as well as the irrigation canals to connect the    irrigation water  to  20,000 new hectares for  rice  production ,”he said.

He said with president Uhuru’s ten year term of office coming to and next year ,there was going to be a big scramble for resources and leaders who will not have organised themselves   properly stand to lose.

“This  year Kenyans will see jostling and scramble  for resources like never before and those who have already shown open bias and unwarranted criticism set to lose  a share of the  national cake ,” the MP said.

Wambugu on the other hand said   there was urgent need for all elected leaders from the county to forge a united front which would enable  them deliver on their pre-election  promise in 2017.

He said it was  only through such unity their development  agenda could be  addressed by the government which  funds projects in their respective areas.

Wambugu said the unity between him ,Wachira and Githinji had brought about rapid development in the entire  county.

“We always   go to lobby for projects meant to benefit our people as one united team   and as  you are aware,  this year many roads have been earmarked for tarmacking  in Mwea   and Gichugu to make them look like my  area which has the longest tarmac connectivity in the county ,”he said.

He also said the government had supplied some 5000 desks various schools in his constituency as reopening tomorrow.

Githinji  on his part said he could not tell  for sure if any such desks had been supplied to schools  in his area .

“But like my colleague Wachira has said I will be moving   around   the constituency tomorrow  to ascertain first hand any problems teachers might be experiencing    due to the covid -19  protocols  prescribed by the government ,”he said.

The three also agreed there was urgent need to create one more constituency in the densely populated Mwea  while  the  county had five sub- counties   with four constituencies.

“Mwea has  a population of 237,000 residents and only allocated Sh 100 million for the CDF  while other   constituencies with only about 40,000 residents  receive the same amount making which results to inequitable distribution of the national resources, “Wachira  noted.