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A properous people in a secure, healthy environment, with a high quality of life.
To harness the hardworking culture of the people of Nyeri and unlock their potential to achieve the highest standard of political, social and economic life by creating an enabling environment that promotes sustainable develoment.
Towards the end of 1902 , the British were looking to establish their colonial presence in Kenya. Led by Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, of the British Army, they marched a strong military column in the Mount Kenya region on a mission to impose colonialism on the indigenous people. Their mission encountered strong resistance from the indigenous Kikuyu warriors led by Wangobe Wa Ihura. It was during Kenya's fight for independence that the British set up a post close to a little hill called ‘Kia-Nyiri on the slopes of Mt. Kenya on 18 December 1902, giving birth to modern-day Nyeri.
Nyeri played a crucial role in Kenya's independence and is the birthplace of the late Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi and his second in command, General Stanley Mathenge, who resisted British occupation throughout the colonial period culminating in Kenya's independence in 1963.Following a national referendum in August 2010, that dissolved the provincial administration system of Government, Kenya’s new constitution gave birth to Nyeri County.
Nyeri County is an emerging market endowed with natural resources and infrastructure that supports the efficient distribution of goods and services to the various urban centers in the Central Kenya region. Nyeri County plays host to both local and foreign investors in key economic sectors among them agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, healthcare, finance and tourism.
The Nyeri County Investment Promotion Unit is continuously facilitating investors in these sectors by providing assistance in establishing business networks with local suppliers of raw materials, as well as other business resources such as business permits and licenses, premises, utilities, investment incentives and any useful statistical data.
Agribusiness serves as the main economic activity in the county with coffee and dairy farming being the major income earners for a lot of the farmers within the county. Other subsistence crops grown within the County include tea, potatoes and cabbages.
Until August 2010, Nyeri town was the administrative headquarters of the former Central Province The main economic activities in Nyeri County include Trade, Manufacturing, Tea Farming, Coffee Farming, Dairy Farming, Agriculture, Tourism, Healthcare, Fishing and Financial Services.
Nyeri County is strategically positioned to connect the central highlands to other local and international markets via Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi and the port of Mombasa. The Nyeri County Investment Promotion Unit is the investor facilitation arm of the County Government that fast-tracks investment mobilization. 92.8% of people living in Nyeri County can read and write and with a poverty level of 28.8% positions the county competitively when it comes to human resource and labour intensive investment opportunities.
Nyeri County hosts an array of both local and foreign direct investments. Most major retail and corporate banks have branches in Nyeri, The Coca-Cola and the Highlands beverage companies both have beverage bottling plants Nyeri County. The New Kenya Cooperative Creameries Limited also has a milk processing and packaging facility in the County. There are also a number of tea and coffee processing factories as well as maize milling facilities making food processing a sustainable economic activity within the county.
Tourism and hospitality also play a significant role in Nyeri County's economy. Tourist attractions such as the Treetops Hotel, Nyeri Golf Club, Aberdare and Mount Kenya National Parks offer excellent accommodation and conferencing facilities for business people and holiday makers. The founder of the modern Scouting movement, Lord Baden-Powell, was also laid to rest in Nyeri and every year thousands of scouts takes pilgrimage to this national monument.
Nyeri County has a strong association with prominent persons. Kenya's third President H.E. Mwai Kibaki was born Gatuyaini village in Nyeri, Nobel Laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai was also born in Ihithe village in Nyeri. Even Queen Elizabeth II, while on holiday at the Treetops Hotel in Nyeri, received word that she was to be crowned the new Queen of the United Kingdom.
Note that this is a summary sheet and in no way does it constitute a business plan. It is a first point of contact aimed at collecting initial project information before the project is reviewed. As such information should be given in summary and preferably in point form Proposed Project: Nyeri County like all the other 46 counties in the republic of Kenya has relatively good healthcare system. However, the entire country healthcare system is good in addressing issues of communicable disease including Tropical andInfectious Disease but ill equipped for non-communicable diseases.In Nyeri County and generally the entire country, we are experiencing an upsurge in Non-Communicable...
Governor’s Inaugural Speech
"Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am humbled to stand before you, having just sworn to the oath of office as the Fourth Governor of our great county of Nyeri. I was deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden and untimely death of our Governor, Dr. Wahome Gakuru. This unbearable loss has robbed Nyeri County a jewel in its crown.
I cannot but pay tribute to our late Governor with whom we won the gubernatorial election just less than three months ago, when I contested as his running mate. I have personally lost a dear friend, a fabulous boss, a cheerful comrade and courageous compatriot. Let me convey my deepest sympathies to Catherine (our County First Lady) and the boys, family, friends, the people of Nyeri and the nation at large.
No words are cogent enough to express our loss from this untimely death. Similarly, no tribute may be elaborate enough to express our determination to live his dream and bring his vision to fruition. May the Lord grant his soul eternal rest!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The trust and confidence, which you bestowed upon us through the power of your vote, remains a pivotal guide in shaping our daily thoughts and actions. During the few months that I have been working with the late Governor, I can attest that we have been guided by God and the spirit of collegiality in our endevour to fulfill the promises that we made to the people of Nyeri. The steps we have so far made under the leadership of the late Governor, in just over two months are commendable. Nevertheless, a lot remains to be undertaken in this shared voyage!
As I take up the baton of leadership, I want to specially appeal to all the people of Nyeri to stay on course in our collective commitment to build a more prosperous Nyeri. Our overarching promise of delivering economic growth anchored on transparency and accountability is fully etched in my mind.
Reflections and stories of hope regarding these aspirations have been repeated in many ways, especially over the last few days. I have had very encouraging and diverse messages from across the county but the underlying theme has been “We are grieving once again but will rally behind you as we soldier on”.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
These messages and my own contemplations serve as a constant reminder that Dr Wahome and I were called by the unanimous voice of the people of Nyeri to the highest offices in the county despite our not being wealthy nor having powerful connections. It is the will of God that I serve in this position and do offer myself to remain your humble servant. Trust me; I am not taking up this responsibility to enrich myself.
I will continue seeking your company in the streets, farms, and markets of Nyeri as we jointly explore ways of improving our lives, one day at a time. My government will galvanize and mobilize the people of Nyeri for the noble responsibilities we were granted.
To succeed in this venture, we all need to remain truly united. Through unity, we will bring out the typical resilience of the people of Nyeri in the face of the greatest of odds. Through unity, our hopes and determination will be stirred, our fears will be doused, and we will encourage each other and rally ourselves to build a stronger county even when others doubt our capacity.
I wish to call on all leaders in this county – be it in the political arena, religious sphere, youth forums, women groups and congregation of special groups – to rally behind me to unite our county and improve the living standards of all our peoples across the county. Let us not allow anyone amongst us to exploit our differences especially in political persuasions to set us one against another. May our determination for this common purpose be unshakable!
May Dr Wahome’s death revive the spirit of the people of Nyeri to conquer any looming challenges- the spirit that drove Dedan Kimathi to fight with nothing but faith; the spirit that propelled Wangari Maathai to World stage of environmental conservation begin with a single seedling.
This is the same spirit that I wish to tap into to make the life of school going children, mothers, hard working men and passionate youths better one day at a time. For this cause, I will be accessible and also available as I have always been.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My government will spearhead the implementation of the vision that Dr Wahome Gakuru fought so hard for and was committed to. I trust that as a true confidant, with your esteemed support, we will soon be unpacking this shared vision through a very participatory, collaborative process of formulating our County Integrated Development Plan, plans for the various sectors, and subsequent annual development plans and budgets.
I am mindful that I represent the shared aspiration of the people of Nyeri to forge a focused county: a county that cherishes education, a county endowed with rich unparalleled heritage, the land of the best coffee and tea, a county desirous of the best healthcare services, a county that aspires to be food secure, and one that envisages prosperity for its youths and children.
I am confident that if we are committed to these ideals, we will not be denied the realization of our vision. In the days ahead, those of us who have been elected to serve you will be required to demonstrate our selflessness, and indeed to live to the expectations, as well as match the hopes and aspirations of the people of this county.
Let us revisit our common grounds, explore new areas of understanding and collaboration and seek novel ideals that will enrich our county. This was Dr Wahome’s perpetual desire and is my desire too!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our transformative journey, achieved a critical milestone few days ago when we established our executive committee. I wish to give a firm assurance of my intention to continue working with the team that we recently enlisted in this great transformation.
I reiterate Dr Wahome’s call for their unequivocal support. We remain alert to the glaring gap that has been left in the executive and will reorganize alongside sectoral committees at the executive level to bridge that gap.
My government will be an open and transparent government. We will seek to engage at all levels. At intergovernmental levels, we will continue with our engagement with the national government ministries, departments and agencies as we pursue our common agenda. Our engagement with other counties – especially our neighboring ones – will be expanded and refocused.
Most importantly, we will revitalize our county intergovernmental relations and collaboration with the non state actors. To the people of Nyeri of all walks of life – be sure that we will continue engaging and listening to you.
I wish to reiterate that we have already established a very close and cordial relationship with the national government under the leadership of H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta. My government will do all that is within its powers to strengthen this partnership and see through ongoing projects – including but not limited to markets, specialized hospital, roads, agricultural training school – to completion. Our ongoing planning process must ensure alignment with the Jubilee Manifesto.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our county’s dream must be anchored on hard work and not short cuts. My administration will encourage and support the people of Nyeri, especially the small and medium enterprises to thrive through access to government procurement opportunities. This we will do acknowledging that they represent the real sector of the economy and that a robust private sector is vital to the creation of growth and jobs that we promised. However, these efforts must be mutual, collaborative and based on a truly win-win value proposition. I will demand that those who work for and do business with the county must be accountable.
At the heart of our service delivery is our staffing complement comprising nearly 3,000 individuals. I direly need the support of this team. Many of them have openly expressed the profound shock that they too have experienced. It is our duty as County Government of Nyeri to ward off uncertainty, doubt and delay and demonstrate that we are capable of decisive action that was manifested by our departed brother.
I believe that no narration can more eloquently honor the Governor Gakuru’s memory than decisively dealing with the bane of corruption and sloppiness in our delivery of services to the public. I trust that the workers’ unions will be a critical cog in this wheel of transformation too.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
To continue with the programs that Governor Gakuru had already initiated for this period, I wish to make an appeal to our County Assembly to approve our supplementary budget request; our County Public Service Board to fast track the pending recruitments especially those of top managers; and our county departments to fast track the first wave of Rapid Results Initiative that we commenced in September this year.
Over the next four years, my government’s attention will be focused on generating economic growth through rebuilding and maintaining our basic infrastructure; attracting new investments and improving trading environment; creating greater access to social services ( including quality vocational education, improved health care services) .
We will pay special attention to the agriculture and water sectors to accord their rightful role of ensuring that our county is food secure and generating employment for our youths.
The creation of the Nyeri County Economic and Social Council will enable us to immensely tap on diversity of ideas and experiences necessary for strengthening our fiscal framework, promoting productivity of our critical sectors, and generating the attendant benefits to the people of Nyeri.
To truly be accountable to you and ensure that we attain best value for money, we are setting up a robust Governor’s Service Delivery Unit and beefing up our communications unit to accord regular engagement with the people we serve.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A grisly road accident has thrust upon me the huge responsibility of steering our county. I am fully aware that I cannot bear this burden alone and do need your help.
As we unite in mourning our departed hero, let us also unite in dedication and action. Let us turn away from defiance, from bitterness, from hate mongers, and agents of fear.
I sincerely and profoundly hope that we will forge forward as one people amidst this tragedy that has befallen us. Let us resolve that through our unity of purpose, we will prove to Kenya that Dr Wahome did not live or die in vain.
God Bless Kenya, God Bless Nyeri"