A few days after Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro launched the ‘County Mashinani’ program in Kilifi, the governor has swung into action, visiting a number of county programs within the Kilifi town.
Governor Mung’aro kicked off the initiative at the Department of Lands, Energy, Housing, Physical Planning, and Urban Development within Kilifi town to familiarize himself with the ongoing plans to digitize the county’s depart programs.
The lands department hosts a fully functioning Geographical Information System (GIS Lab) sponsored by the World Wide Fund (WWF).
Accompanied by County Lands Executive Jane Kamto, and Roads, Infrastructure and Public Works Executive Catherine Kenga, Mr Mung’aro was taken through the system that maps out the county.
When the centre becomes fully operational, it will play a key role in planning, infrastructural development, disaster management, and providing key insights into the communities we serve.
“We intend to employ digital mapping of land and record keeping to cut down on the illegal acquisition of title deeds and land ownership. We have many cases of professional squatters who keep on jumping from one settlement scheme to another. But with this system, once one gets a title deed in one scheme, the system will be able to identify the same person and flash them out of receiving another title deed,” he said.
He said that the application of GIS in the county will cut across all sectors, including health, education, environment, land, agriculture, and roads, as it aims at giving the necessary data to serve the people.
He was also taken through the land digitisation process to witness the digitisation of land, a program he started when he was Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the lands ministry.
The Governor also toured the Kilifi fire station which is nearing completion and later toured the Seahorse road which is also about to be completed. Both the fire station and the roads are projects of the Kilifi Municipality sponsored by the World Bank(WB)
The governor directed that all building owners within the county’s major towns of Mtwapa, Malindi, Kilifi, Watamu, Mazeras, Kaloleni and Mariakani should repaint their buildings and bring the much-needed sanity.
“Go and give all building owners a notice to repaint their buildings and houses, especially those in the urban centre to paint them. You need to find a uniform colour for all the structures and ensure that directive is followed,” he told Ms Kamto.
The governor was categorical that all unpaid signboards, some abandoned should also be brought down and the owners pay once they go to request the same
“It is unfortunate that we still have signboards, some dirty ones have been left abandoned in our towns. They are a menace and should be removed, taken to county centres until such a time that they pay and comply with our county by-laws,” he said.
Mung’aro also directed that all abandoned villas and ageing hotels be given notices on the field.
