Deputy President Kithure Kindiki hosted over 3,500 women opinion leaders at his rural home in Irunduni, Tharaka Nithi County, where he promised several development projects in the area.
Among these was a Ksh1.2 billion rural electrification project aimed at 100 per cent connectivity under the last-mile electricity connectivity programme.
The project had initially been allocated Ksh400 million, but the additional Ksh800 million is expected to bring the region at par with the other regions.
Besides the electrification project, Kindiki announced several others, including the resumption of construction of six roads which stalled during the President Uhuru Kenyatta regime over several challenges.
"These roads stalled when Uhuru was President due to economic challenges and COVID-19. Now that the economy is showing signs of recovery, we have resumed paying contractors, and I want to assure you these roads will be completed,” he said.
The roads include the Chogoria-Weru, Keria-Magutuni-Kathwana, Kibugua-Itugururu-Ishiara, and Kaanwa-Mariani-Kamutiria roads, among others.
Additionally, he announced that six markets were under construction in the county, with another six planned. He also highlighted the Ksh7 billion set aside to construct a new and safer Nithi Bridge.
Speaking to the women, Kindiki hailed them as champions of family and community values who nurture children and influence the values of the youth.
“I plead with you to continue nurturing and supporting young adults so they can be better people and not outcasts engaging in bad behaviours,” he told them.
He therefore affirmed that women have a stake in government programmes for job and income creation for their children of working age, including jobs in the public and private sectors, digital jobs, overseas jobs, micro and small businesses, support initiatives like NYOTA and others.
As such, he expressed his support for his boss, President William Ruto, on the ongoing empowerment drives and denounced political competitors who he claimed exploit the young people to cause violence and destroy property.
"My work is to assist the President to serve Kenyans and to defend the government. I am working day and night because I don’t want to let you down… I’m a servant of all Kenyans, not only my region. But as I serve Kenyans, I will not forget Tharaka Nithi because it is part of Kenya," he emphasised.
