Wamatangi reveals how Kiambu County cuts road construction cost

Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi (c) inspects Ngenia - Riagithu Road which has been gravelled in Ngewa Ward, Githunguri Sub-County. [George Njunge, Standard]

The cost of constructing roads in Kiambu County has significantly gone down thanks to austerity measures implemented by Governor Kimani Wamatangi.

His administration is using the county’s own equipment, comprising excavators, graders, roller compactors, trucks and water bowsers deployed in the 12 sub-counties, and the county staff.

Construction material is sourced from quarries on county-owned land at no cost, while local youth are engaged in the construction work.

“This is a model the national government should adopt. The close to Sh130 billion to be collected under the Road Maintenance Levy is probably enough to build new roads and maintain existing ones.

‘‘We just need to end corruption and inefficiencies,” business and development consultant Ephraim Njega said.

Since his election, Wamatangi has embraced numerous austerity measures defining his tenure. He has taken extraordinary steps to protect public resources, ensuring that the people of Kiambu get value for their money.

Data from the county indicates that so far, the devolved unit has built more than 1,000 km of roads.

According to the chief officer in charge of roads, Edmound Njihia, in the new financial year, the county will construct 1,200 km of roads.
In addition to reducing the cost of constructing roads by eliminating private contractors in the rehabilitation of rural access roads, the governor has cut down on unnecessary travel, both locally and internationally.

He has put up a tent outside his office where employees hold meetings, saving the county from incurring expenses. The tent, dubbed “Vasha,” refers to the resort town of Naivasha, where many counties hold meetings.

Upon his election as the fourth county boss, Wamatangi, faced criticism from some staff.

The criticism arose when he prohibited local and foreign seminars and benchmarking visits. The governor argued that such trips, which are common in counties, were a misuse of public resources.

In his view, the resources should be directed towards development and service improvement, and the time officers spend on these trips could be better utilised in managing county affairs.
The governor also conducts meetings with his management team and guests at the tent, having even hosted President William Ruto during one of his visits to Kiambu Town in August of last year.

“Officers used to spend up to Sh10 million on per diem and other expenses when they flew to Mombasa and Naivasha for a week to prepare a Sh10 million project.

‘‘Officers and their aides would travel to Naivasha thrice a month, twice in Kisumu and Mombasa, for workshops, some of which were unnecessary. Some officers would not travel yet they claimed per diem,” the governor explained.

He added: “Sometimes, they organised trips abroad for benchmarking. Ultimately, the county would spend millions on travel alone.

‘‘That is why Kiambu was unable to carry out serious development projects. But that has stopped and that is why we have received such a good rating from the Controller of Budget (CoB).”

It was no surprise when the Auditor General revealed that, among all 47 governors in the country, only Wamatangi had not travelled outside the country since his election.
While other governors have spent in excess of Sh20 million on domestic and foreign travel, Wamatangi’s international travel expenditure remains nil.

The CoB report covering the first nine months of the 2023/2024 financial year reveals that the Kiambu County Executive only spent Sh883,037 on travel.