Hope of a better life springs for sleepy Murang'a village after Ruto's visit

Tucked kilometres away from Murang’a town, residents of the sleepy Marewa village have been condemned to a life of darkness in the area considered a hardship area.

The village, however, shot into the limelight on Friday last week when President William Ruto visited one of the homes to commission a power project.

The Marewa power project implemented by the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC) has lit up the village and injected life into it, giving residents the hope of a better life and more income.

Jackson Kamau, 52, said he was amazed to see the President sitting in the living room of his mud-walled house.

“I’d never have thought that the President would visit our village leave alone my house,” he said, unable to hide his excitement.

Since then, Kamau said his family has undergone drastic changes from its previous life that required them to use makeshift kerosene lamps as the only source of light.

At times, Kamau said his family would burn dry maize leaves and make a big fire that would be used as light when kerosene was not available.

“The darkness that was in this village before forced us all to be at home by 9 pm because crime was high,” he said.

His vision is to source funds to procure a chuff cutter that will make it easy to feed his one cow and several goats, and eventually acquire a dairy cow that will improve his income.

The father of four expressed optimism that two of his children who are still in school will perform better academically as they will be able to comfortably do their homework after school.

“We’ve been going to church with wrinkled clothes but now we will be able to iron them and improve our grooming,” he added.

His wife Faith Wanjiru said electricity previously seemed like a pipe dream but that it has eased her responsibilities as a woman.

Her family would on many days not afford kerosene for the makeshift lamp but all that is now in the past as they have been saved from the harmful smoke emitted by the lamp.

She plans to start a beauty shop in the village to complement the income she makes as a casual labourer.

 “The president’s visit has turned us into heroes in our village. We have framed the photos we took with him and will forever cherish them”.

Wanjiru, 46, however, appealed to the president to consider assisting the family in constructing a permanent house and acquiring a high-quality dairy cow that will provide an extra income.

In the neighbouring home, Lucy Nyambura said she had installed solar panels years ago in a bid to illuminate her home but that they were not strong enough to provide light during rainy seasons.

“Now we have power and will no longer worry when it rains. We thank the government for connecting our homes.”

Marewa assistant chief Eric Mwangi dismissed claims circulating on social media that the government disconnected transformers soon after the president left.

“That is just baseless propaganda. The power has not gone off since it was connected and we are even expecting another transformer for a neighbouring village.”

The area, he confirmed, has been grappling with cattle theft and insecurity, and many residents were unable to make prompt reports as their mobile phones would go off due to lack of power.

The area is agriculturally rich and the availability of power will enable them to integrate technology and engage in agri-business.

REREC’s senior engineer in the Mt Kenya region Timothy Ngumbi confirmed that the Sh9.2 million project will connect 147 households to power.

Already, all the homes have been connected to the grid and only installation of metres is pending in most of the households.

Ngumbi said REREC has implemented 86 projects worth Sh436 million and which have benefited 6,000 residents in the county since July last year.

“I can confirm that the claims that transformers were transferred were sourced from another area and then returned afterwards are untrue,” he said.