Home » Media Centre » Blogs » Mzalendo Vox Pop: Wainana Miring'u from Kandara Constituency
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Wainana is represented by MP James Kamau of Kandara Constituency
Problems facing the constituency: The constituency has various problems dogging the area. Like most of the areas the fundamental problem is poverty. This is exemplified by for example parents not being able to take their children to Form 1 despite the fees being as low as Kshs. 1500 per term. Intertwined with poverty are such issues as youth unemployment, insecurity, food insecurity, illiteracy among other worrying trends. Secondly is the issue of clean drinking water; though Kandara neighbours Ndakaini Dam catchment areas it has no piped water. The situation in Kandara is reinforced by a comment from a friend of mine who quipped that " the coffee factory is about to turned into a jail and a mortuary". This was in respect to the sorry state of Thugi Coffee Factory about 400 metres from 'Kandara District' Headquarters.
Your MPs performance: The MP is hardly known skipping the days he is supposed to be working from the constituency. It therefore is no surprise that his achievements maybe a few but i must admit that with the little research i have done i can't point one. There have been allegations that he allocates a big chunk of CDF funds to Ruchu location where he hails from. I can't point any project undetaken under the Stimulus programme. With the current situation i wont vote for him and i would gladly vote for Alice Muthoni; but he has a chance to redeem himself. the government has put in place mechanisms and funds which if put into use appropriately can make so much difference.
Message to your MP: My Message to the MP would be to urge him to undertake a 'meet the people tour' and especially engage with the women as they are the backbone of Kandara and most Central Province livelihood. This is because men and youths have been 'lost' to alcoholism and Nairobism. The women can be a fertile ground for solving poverty related problems in Kandara. With the Stimulus Package funfds he should engage the women expressly to undertake income generation projects. the women can also be used to identify needy students for bursaries. The women would also identify enterprising youth groups to be funded. The water problem can also be solved through women initiatives; in my home area in King'ara women formed a group in 2007 whose main objective was to get piped water into homes but due various institutional and logistical problems we had to transformed it to a welfare group for relevance. Such groups can be a good starting point for undertaking projects in the area. The MP needs to do something about the state of coffee farmers in the area. The area has great potential in horticultural farming, fish farming, artworks, small scale trading among other initiatives. This is backed up by aready market in Thika and also in Nairobi given the road network is in good shape. I would also urge him to emulate successful models implemented in Gachoka and neighbouring Gatanga constituencies.
Last word: In summary i feel that we Kenyans should start voting in MPs residing in the constituencies even if it is before being voted in. Electing people residing in Nairobi, who visit Dubai more than they visit the constituencies is what is ailing our nation.
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