Martin Mugambi Dr. Alfred Mutua Below kindly find my speech during the launch of the New Machakos City. SPEECH FOR H.E. DR. ALFRED N. MUTUA, EBS DURING THE LAUNCH OF MACHAKOS INVESTMENT PROGRAM 1. MR. SWAZURI 2. MS. CHARITY NGILU 3. MR. KALONZO MUSYOKA 4. MR. ADAN MOHAMMED 5. MS. ANNE WAIGURU At the turn of the century, Machakos, a town seated at the center of seven hills was the first Capital City of our beautiful and great Country of Kenya. However, due to the hills, the bypassed Machakos and the rest is history. Today, we are here to rekindle, not only the glory of the town of Machakos but the adventurous and hardworking spirit of the people of this region. Today, we are telling Kenya, the region and the world that Machakos is ready for take-off, for transformation and for realizing that Kenyan dream that was lost many years ago. Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am a dreamer. However, I know that, as someone once said, if you want your dreams to come true, you must first wake up. Waking up is the transforming of ideas into action – action that generates development. While I was campaigning to be elected Governor of Machakos, I was traumatised by the level of poverty that we have not only in Machakos but in our country. I saw fear, helplessness and apathy. Desperate Mothers clang to me and begged me not to forsake them and Youth besieged me to find ways of getting them jobs because they are wasting at home and have given up hope. We are quite a poor economy, despite our enormous resources and ability. However, the time for realizing the dreams of our people is here. In Machakos, we have decided to carry out a Program of Maendeleo chap chap. We are saying Machakos is the place to be. We are welcoming Investors from Kenya, the region and everywhere in the world to come to Machakos, a place where we do not frustrate but facilitate business. Investing in Machakos is investing in Kenya. Your Excellency, as soon as you confirmed your support for development and not empty politics, by agreeing to launch our Program, forces of sabotage and corruption woke up and have tried to stop a Program that will contribute to your Government achieving the double digit growth that we are confident you will achieve. Today, we are standing and seated on land that has remained undeveloped 50 years ago, this land has remained as grass, without much development. We want to transform this piece of land that the National Land Commission has reserved for investment for development for the sake of our People. We are creating a new City of Machakos so as to attract Investors and accelerate the speed of development. We are lucky that we have 2,200 acres of county land, seating next to veterinary land. It is our land that we are utilizing for this Project. When some people heard that we are going to use land as an incentive as they do in Singapore, United States, Australia, Serbia and many parts of the world, they went into panic. Some called me and said they wanted to strike a deal and I said No. This land belongs to the people of Kenya and I will not strike a deal with corrupt and greedy leaders so that they can increase the size of their stomachs. This Project is food to the hungry children of this country. This Project is for jobs to the unemployed Youth of this county. This Project is health, water, roads and security for the Mothers of this county and this Project is a renewed hope for the Fathers of this county of Machakos and our country Kenya. I refuse to enter deals with land belonging to the people. That time has gone. We are now in a new era, a new Kenya, indeed a new digital revolution, as our President tells us (By the way we request you to launch the laptop Project, here we are ready). Investors, you have come to a county prepared to host you. Our initiatives, such as the 100 vehicles for Police, Forensics Research Center and 500 CCTV Cameras, we are initiating by end of December, will make Machakos the safest county for businesses and its people. The 70 ambulances in high seas, for each of our locations and the 464 million we are spending to upgrade hospitals in every of our 40 wards will provide proper healthcare and emergency response. We have set up a one-stop shop investment so that Investors can get Licenses, Permits and all necessary information processed quickly. Our other initiatives, such as MACHAWOOD have started transforming this county as the film, media, entertainment and Art hub for this region, so that our youth can grow their talent and we can generate wealth. We have, for the public, created the Machakos Recreation Park, on the riparian extension sector of Maruba Dam. We plan to open the Park to the Public on December 12 as we celebrate 50 years of independence in Kenya. It is going to be the most beautiful Park in Africa, with the continents first and only field amphitheatre, which will host functions and great concerts. Also please visit the Park before you leave, I encourage you to visit our Stadium in town which we have constructed in the last four weeks for CECAFA games. Thereafter, please visit a local Mkahawa or a shop and shop kidogo and make us a little bit richer. Your Excellency, you should come to Machakos every day. This is the first day of rains in Machakos for the last eight months. It has rained heavily everywhere. You have come with blessings. Truly, God is on our side. This season, we are going to plant trees and take care of the environment as part of a program to plant one million trees a year for the next five years. In conclusion, Your Excellency, I am grateful that you have shown remarkable leadership by agreeing to launch this great initiative for our children. I am glad that our leaders are also here. Some of our friendly Investors are already giving back to the county. We are building a new Governor’s Office and county headquarter. I only have on request, Mr. President, I request that we, as a Nation, galvanize our leaders to work together and not at cross purposes. You will agree with me that it is not the place of Governors, Cabinet Secretaries, MPs or Senators to talk to each other through the media. We need to learn to work together, to be able to lift the phone and call each other, to sit down and discuss and hold hands, not for ourselves but for our people. Our beautiful County has lagged behind because of bickering and scaring away of Investors. There are some who will never want to see growth of anything else apart from the size of their stomachs. Those ones, we will ignore and continue in our quest. Ladies and Gentlemen, We are today standing at the crossroads of change. Today we bring jobs to the lines of the youth, laughter to the eyes of our children and hope in the lives of our mothers. It is on page 20 of the booklet for the project Devki Steel Mills, Mr. Guru has donated, free of charge steel worth 42 million shillings. East African Portland Cement has donated all the cement worth 35 million and Athi River Mining has donated cement worth 32 million. To echo the words of Martin Luther King, we have seen the Promised Land and together, we no longer have to dream about it we are there for the sake of our people. In the worlds of my favourite TV series Cobra Squad. “Failure is Not an Option.” Dated November 8th 2013 H.E. Dr. Alfred N. Mutua, EBS GOVERNOR.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 11:27:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015