Governor Jonathan Bii of Uasin Gishu has released figures and data indicating the performance of his administration for one year.
The figures are contained in his State of the County address which MCAs are expected to discuss this week.
Bii said his team had made substantial progress in the absorption of development funds, which improved to 76 per cent in the Financial Year 2022-23 indicating a significant increase from 63 per cent in 2021-22.
“This is only the beginning, as we strive to achieve an absorption rate of 90 per cent this year," Bii said.
He said there had been success in the own-source revenue collections which experienced a remarkable 14 per cent growth with collections of Sh982,050,748 million compared to Sh858,349,786 in the previous fiscal year.
The governor said one of the major breakthroughs of his administration was the issuance of more than 600 title deeds to residents of Maili Nne, Kuinet, and Hill School Settlements, thereby enhancing property ownership and security.
In the education sector, Bii cited the expansion of Early Childhood Education (ECD) as a major success by his team.
He has introduced the milk programme in the ECDE units which he noted has not only boosted pupils' retention but also enrolment rates by 8.6 per cent.
The county boss said Sh92.8 million was allocated and utilised for enhancing ECDE infrastructure including the construction of 91 ECDE classrooms, 41 ablution blocks, the construction of a kitchen, and the procurement of essential furniture and fittings for 6 ECDE centres.
An additional allocation of Sh22 million was dedicated to providing essential teaching and learning materials to more than 10,000 ECDE pupils.
“The two greatest milestones of my administration in this sector are the confirmation of 1,274 ECDE teachers on permanent and pensionable terms and the rollout of the ECDE school milk programme. These milestones were the fulfilment of my pre-election pledges," Bii said.
In the health sector, Bii said his administration had trained a robust workforce of 2,040 Community Health Promoters.
He said the team, at the household level, will provide the initial identification, registration, basic screening, and referral of patients and provide health messages with the objective of reversing disease trends.
In one year, Bii said efficient management of service delivery health facilities had led to an increase in maternal health performance.
The percentage of women attending their fourth antenaetal care visit has risen from 48 per cent to 56 per cent.
Skilled birth attendance has also increased from 78 per cent to 84 per cent, and postnatal care utilisation has grown from 42 per cent to 60.
Governor Bii said that in his commitment to a 24-hour economy and strengthening regional security, the county has installed 139 solar-integrated streetlights, 9 high masts, with floodlights and was currently setting up 5 new masts besides successfully replacing 351 faulty lanterns throughout the county.
“My government is in the process of installing 82 new streetlights, a project in the survey stage. We are also actively developing a Uasin Gishu Energy Policy and a Strategy for Energy Reticulation," Bii said.
Bii also noted that in one year, his government had supplied 300 bags of Irish potatoes to farmer groups in Ainabkoi subcounty, 16,666 avocado seedlings, 83,333 coffee seedlings, 72,152 pyrethrum splits, and 8,000 macadamia seedlings across the county to promote crop diversification in the agriculture sector
The county chief said his administration intends to put up 37 public Wi-Fi hotspots and create ICT centres in every ward for youths to maximise their skills in internet usage and gain access to opportunities locally and globally
