By GPC Team
Nyamira Governor Amos Nyaribo has outlined investments in healthcare, roads, education and agriculture, including Sh1.7 billion for hospital infrastructure and equipment.
In a speech read on his behalf by Dr John Matiang’i, the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of Youth, Gender and Sports during the 63rd Mashujaa Day celebrations at Kiomakondo Grounds in Manga Sub-County on Tuesday, Nyaribo said his administration was also expanding sports facilities, vocational training and access to clean water.
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He said the investments were aimed at improving public services, creating economic opportunities and addressing challenges facing residents across the county.
“At our Referral Hospital, we have secured Sh1.7 billion for infrastructure development and purchase of equipment,” Nyaribo said, adding that the funding would double its operational capacity and enable the introduction of specialised services befitting a Level Six hospital.
Healthcare services
The governor said the county had established a revolving drug fund with seed capital of Sh500 million to address persistent shortages of medicines and other medical supplies in public health facilities.
He said the fund had enabled the county to supply medicines and other commodities consistently for more than six months.
Nyaribo also announced plans to employ 181 medical staff and absorb all 224 Universal Health Care staff to strengthen the health workforce and enable more facilities to become operational.
In Manga Sub-County, he said the county had constructed and operationalised a 30-bed inpatient ward and maternity wing at Kiangoso during the last financial year.
Construction of a Sh71 million mother and child unit at Nyangena Hospital is also set to begin, while plans are underway to complete the inpatient section of Manga Level Four Hospital.
The county has also secured Sh75 million for another mother and child unit at Kijauri Hospital in Nyansiongo Ward, in addition to Sh104 million allocated for infrastructure and equipment upgrades at the facility.
Nyaribo said the Sh60 million mother and child unit at Nyamusi in Bokeira Ward would be ready for commissioning within a month. The mother and child unit at Ekerenyo is already operational.
In Kiabonyoru Ward, the county is completing the upgrading of Mokomoni Health Centre to a Level Four hospital at a cost of more than Sh120 million.
The governor said the expansion of Masaba Level Four Hospital in Keroka, Rigoma Ward, from 30 beds to 170 beds had improved service delivery.
The facility conducts between 15 and 20 orthopaedic surgeries monthly, while its upgraded maternity wing handles between 110 and 120 deliveries, including an average of 30 caesarean sections, every month.
He also acknowledged the stalled construction of Kiendege Dispensary, saying the county was mobilising resources to complete the facility.
Sh900m stadium and road projects
On sports development, Nyaribo said his administration was fully sponsoring the annual Governor’s Cup to identify and nurture talent among young people across the county’s wards.
The current edition will culminate in December, when men’s and women’s champions from the sub-counties compete for the trophies.
He said the county was exploring ways to transition talented players into professional football academies, beginning with the establishment of a county football team.
“We must go beyond the 255 clubs already registered under football, as well as to the other sports,” he said, urging youth involved in different sporting activities to register so that the county could mobilise and allocate more resources to support them.
The county is upgrading Manga Stadium to national standards and working with the National Government to construct the 10,000-capacity Esanige Stadium in Magwagwa, which has been allocated Sh900 million.
Nyaribo said Sh64.5 million had been set aside for surveying, beaconing and constructing a perimeter wall at Nyamaiya Stadium, while Sh1.5 million had been allocated for surveying and beaconing Sironga playground.
On roads, the governor said the Barabara Mashinani programme had covered more than 545 kilometres across several wards, including Nyamaiya, Bomwagamo, Bokeira, Kiabonyoru, Ekerenyo, Nyansiongo, Esise, Magwagwa, Mekenene and Gachuba.
He said road machinery was currently operating in Kemera and Township wards, with work expected to extend to Manga and other areas within weeks.
The county targets completing work across all 20 wards under Phase One by December before beginning Phase Two in January 2027.
Through subcontracting, the administration has also opened and upgraded 225 kilometres of roads in Bogichora, Bosamaro, Rigoma, Magombo, Bonyamatuta, Gesima and Itibo, among other areas.
Education, farming and water access
Nyaribo said the county had constructed twin early childhood development education (ECDE) classrooms in more than 40 centres, with over 20 additional centres expected to benefit during the current financial year.
He attributed increased enrolment in ECDE centres, from 28,000 to 35,000 learners, partly to the Uji Afya Masomo Bora programme, which he said would be sustained.
Digital learning has also been rolled out in all 408 public ECDE centres as part of efforts to prepare children for a technology-driven economy.
In vocational training, the governor said the county had partnered with the KCB Foundation to train more than 570 trainees under a full-scholarship programme last year. The top 178 trainees received start-up kits worth up to Sh40,000.
This year, the number of beneficiaries under the 2Jiajiri full-scholarship programme has increased to 1,090. The county is also offering partial scholarships to more than 2,000 vocational training centre trainees, each receiving a matching Sh5,000 per term.
More than 100 young people have already acquired digital skills through the Nyamira County Digital Skills Empowerment Programme, which seeks to connect them to online employment opportunities.
In agriculture, Nyaribo said the county was working with the New KPCU to distribute 600,000 coffee seedlings to farmers. More than Sh38 million had also been provided in matching inclusion grants through ward-based savings and credit cooperative societies to improve access to affordable credit.
Through the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project, Kemera Farmers’ Cooperative Society received an enterprise development grant of Sh9.2 million, while Bisembe Farmers’ Cooperative Society received Sh8.1 million. All nine coffee Farmer Producer Organisations in the county have also received inclusion grant support.
At Bisembe factory in Ekerenyo Ward, the county has installed a greenhouse drying structure, solar and metallic drying beds, CCTV cameras and high-mast lighting to improve coffee handling, quality and storage.
The governor said the county was also progressing with the construction of the Nyamira County Aggregation and Industrial Park in Sironga to support agricultural value addition.
In livestock farming, more than 110,000 cattle are being vaccinated against foot-and-mouth disease.
Nyaribo said the county had completed Keroka Market in Rigoma Ward, which he would commission soon, and installed more than 200 streetlights in different areas to improve security and extend trading hours. Township Ward alone had received 117 streetlights.
On water access, he said the county had drilled boreholes at Nyaguku and Riong’uti in Magombo Ward, Entanda in Kemera Ward and Kerema Parish in Kiabonyoru Ward, among other locations.
The administration plans to drill 53 boreholes across the five sub-counties as part of a wider target of 100 boreholes to improve water supply.
The governor added that the Nyamira Water and Sewerage Company was expanding its pipeline network, with works between Kebirigo and Nyaramba and in Kiabonyoru ongoing. Similar works had been undertaken in Nyansiongo.
Present from the executive was County Secretary Dr Jack Magara and CECMs, Bernard Maina (Lands), CPA Emilly Ongaga (Education and ICT), Dr Grace Nyamongo (Roads and Public Works), Stephen Oboso (Finance), Chief Officer Zipporah Orina (Education and ICT), among others,
