Trans Nzoia visits Nakuru to Benchmark on KISIP II projects implementation

Written by Jeremy Ogolla

The move by the County Government of Nakuru to address socio-economic disparities and promote inclusive development within its informal settlements through the KISIP II project is taking shape. This has continued to attract visitors from various County Governments for benchmarking owing to developments within its informal settlements through KISIP projects.

On Friday, the County had the privilege to host a team from Trans Nzoia County on a sensitization and benchmarking tour of KISIP II development projects. The team was led by the County Executive Committee Member for Lands in Trans Nzoia Ms Janerose Mutama, the KISIP technical lead and a County Project Coordination Team (CPCT) member. Ms. Janerose said the visit will help them identify areas of improvement while implementing KISIP II projects back at home.

“This will help us identify areas needing improvement while implementing KISIP II projects back at home,” said Ms Janerose.

Addressing the visitors during a presentation session on the KSIP II projects implementation, Jane Muriuki, the Nakuru County Physical Planner said the County has undertaken tremendous measures to help implement KISIP II projects.

Ms. Jane the KISIP technical lead and a member of the County Project Coordination Team (CPCT) later led the visitors to Kiamurogi in Nakuru East Ward for a tour session on an ongoing project under KISIP II Small Works. The project entails tarmacking Madaraka Road to a bitumen standard. She revealed that the County is leveraging KISIP II to help address access to basic services and land tenure security of residents in participating urban informal settlements and strengthen institutional capacity for slum upgrading in Nakuru.

She highlighted some of the major areas of focus to be covered under KISIP II, among them land tenure regulations, infrastructural upgrading, institutional capacity development for slum upgrading, program management and coordination among others.

“These projects aim to create positive socio-economic impacts and enhance the quality of life for residents in Nakuru County,” she said.

She also thanked the Transzoi County team for choosing to benchmark with Nakuru noting that exchanging ideas and experience is commendable since it creates room for learning from one another.

KISIP coordinator for Trans Nzoia Edith Barasa acknowledged the tremendous steps Nakuru County has undertaken in implementing KISIP II projects citing Nakuru as the best County to benchmark on the best practices of the project implementation.

“We are thirsty and wish to know the best models used in the execution role of your KISIP II projects in Nakuru so that we can also implement them in Trans Nzoia, ” said Ms. Baraza.

Trans Nzoia Chief Officer for Lands Dr Roselyne Nasiebanda said the strides made by the Nakuru County Government in implementing KISIP II projects have challenged them to work extra hard to achieve similar gains back home.

The Small Works KISIP II projects include the installation of high mast floodlights, tarmacking roads to a bitumen standard, storm water drainages, construction of modern kiosks, construction of social halls and Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) facilities.

Nakuru County is among the 33 participating counties in KISIP II and has also been chosen to benefit from Component 2.

Other informal settlements in Nakuru County for the upgrade are Lake View estate in Flamingo Ward and Kiragita in Naivasha. Others are Kiratina estate in Nakuru East Ward, Mwisho wa Lami in Njoro Sub-county, Keringet in Kuresoi South, and Kapkures and London in Nakuru Town West sub-county.

The County administration is keen on ensuring the successful implementation of KISIP II projects, which will ignite economic development in urban areas in line with the agenda of H.E Governor Susan Kihika.

The KISIP project is a government project that was launched back in 2011 to improve the living conditions in informal settlements in selected urban centres. Furthermore, the project was instituted under the Ministry of Land, Housing, and Urban Development in the Slum Upgrading department.