Kiambu Governor William Kabogo, his deputy, Gerald Githinji Gakuha and members of the County executive met over 150 representatives of business associations in the county to discuss how the county can create a niche for itself and prepare for an investment conference to woo investors. This was at Kiambu Business Roundtable held today at the Windsor Country and Golf Resort.
Mr. Rajan Shah, the KAM Central Chapter Chairman brought up the issue of new rates. “We understand that one of the ways the county is going to increase its revenue is through increasing land rates. We do not want to turn away new investors in the county because of the new levies we have put up,” he said.
But Mr. Kabogo said the County had no need to increase levies if only people paid their levies. “This issue of revenue, the county has to go an extra mile to find more money, it is because we know that counties are underfunded and I do not want to blame the president, because he inherited a treasury that was choking. But I am hoping in the next year the central government should be able to make good on its promise of increasing the devolved fund to up to 40% of the national budget. For us in Kiambu we have been given 6.2 billion by the exchequer and our personal emoluments are in the range of 5.8 billion. Meaning we have 300 or 400 million available for development,” said Mr. Kabogo adding that the County was going to automate its collection system to increase revenue. “Pay your taxes, pay your revenues and we will not tax any other revenues as I believe Kiambu has the potential to collect enough revenue to do what is expected of us,” he added.
Mr. Kabogo also touched on environmental issues asking people not to buy riparian land adding that the quarry companies in Juja were leaving death traps. “This government is going to work and make sure we take care of the environment. We are going to live in a green environment, in a good environment,” he added.
Discussing the rapid real estate development in the county, Mr. Kabogo said that planning was essential and that the county had halted issuing change of user permits and development projects. “It is the fastest growing real estate county in the whole country. There are people uprooting coffee and bringing in a concrete jungle,” he said.
Though the county is rich in agricultural land, Kiambu is also a city county with 60% of its population living in urban areas. “We know that Kiambu has grown as an agricultural town in the last 50 years but a lot of these products are going. Farmers spend Ksh9 million to make a turnover of Ksh 10.5 million shillings on a big piece of land and they keep getting offers to turn that land into real estate. If that is the case, we are not going to have any farming land left. I have had proposals from people to convert 400 acres of Tea to build houses. Food security is more important in my view than housing or industrial development. ” said Mr. Gakuha.
The county has leveraged on its agri-business potential with pineapples, tea, coffee, wheat, macadamia nuts, poultry, horticulture and fish farming. The agricultural, dairy and fish farming sectors employ 100,000 people and generates Kshs. 100 billion for the county. The recently constructed Thika Super highway has also opened up the county to market access and there has been a lot of real estate development along the road. Plans are underway to buy land and construct an industrial park together with low and medium income housing units in Juja.
Domestic tourism is another area where the county could cash in on. The county has Mau Mau caves, Chania falls, Thika falls, Fourteen falls and Mugumo gardens among other sites that offer good opportunities for local tourism. Hotels in Kiambu also offer great business retreats and weekend breakaways.
Mr. Kabogo also referred to the referendum debate saying it was in aid of better devolution and development. “When you hear us talking in the council of governors and some people say a referendum may be required, we want you to detach us from the referendum that other politicians are asking for. That is not what we want. We are saying we want more resources to come down to the counties; we have had bad roads in the last 50 years and very little has happened in terms of the development of rural areas. A good example is Lari constituency. So really it is not politicking although there are people who want to bring in politics. We just want to be able to do what we promised in the last elections,” the governor said.
This is the fifth roundtable being held in the counties. The next one will be held in Nairobi on the 26th of September.