Amos Kimunya in Court

Former Cabinet minister Amos Kimunya and a company to which he is accused of fraudulently transferring a 25-acre piece of land Wednesday suffered a blow when the High Court ruled that the criminal trial against him should proceed.

Justice Weldon Korir declined for the second time to stop Mr Kimunya’s prosecution.

Mr Kimunya first moved to court a year ago after filing two suits seeking to stop the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) from proceeding with the criminal trial against him.

Even though Mr Kimunya had argued that the offences which he is alleged to have committed are believed to have been done in 2005, he feared that charges against him in 2014 were malicious and discriminatory since there was a pending civil case in Nakuru on the land in question with Midlands Limited.

Nyandarua County Donate Milk Cooling Plant to Karati Famers Society

Nyandarua Governor H.E. Daniel Waithaka Mwangi has challenged farmers in Kinangop sub-county to stand firm and kick out brokers from potato industry.
He said it was inconceivable that brokers were making up to 200 per cent from the sale of potatoes and other horticultural products, leaving farmers exploited and poor.
“From now hence, you should stand firm and make proper consultations among yourselves before determining the price of your products. Don’t allow the brokers to determine the price for your crop,” he told farmers during a public gathering at Heni playgrounds.
The Governor spoke after he commissioned a Sh3.8 million milk cooling plant his administration donated to members of Karati Farmers’ Society.
The Governor was accompanied by County Ministers Hon. Judy Nyambura Mwangi (Co-operatives), Hon. George Kimani (Attorney and ICT), Hon. Peter Mwangi Gathimba (Tourism and Sports), as well Members of the County Assembly Hon. Githinji Ngumba (Magumu) and Hon. Peter Njoroge Kariru (Githabai).
The Governor advised farmers to join the co-operative movement to enable them market their produce directly to consumers and manufacturers instead of selling such products through the middlemen.
He commended the co-operative movement saying it was the answer to farmers’ woes, noting that some societies had started to sell farmers’ produce directly to manufacturers.
He said Nyandarua had a total of 126 co-operative societies, 26 of which were registered during the past year alone while 13 others were revived by his administration.
The Governor expressed satisfaction that Karati Farmers’ Society earned over Sh80 million from milk sales alone last year and was currently producing milk worth Sh8 million on monthly basis.
He said the society had registered a savings and credit society (sacco) for members and a total number of 457 had so far deposited savings to the tune of Sh4.6 million.
H.E. Waithaka said farmers in Nyandarua County have ventured into the sacco movement which accounted for Sh3.9 billion in savings. He said members had taken loans to the tune of Sh3.2 billion.
The governor said his administration had continued to assist the movement, noting that the department of co-operatives had donated another milk cooling plant to Umoja Nyahururu Farmers Society with a capacity of 3,000 litres.
His administration had also injected direct capital to other societies such as Zimamwa, Geta , New Visionary bodaboda housing co-operative, Bodabioda Njabini society, Turasha Farmers’ society and Gikara Farmers’ society.
While referring to the proposed Sh13 billion-Kinangop Wind-Mill Project, the Governor announced he will convene a stakeholders meeting to discuss contentious issues.

“We have to solve problems affecting us by sitting down together. My administration will call such a meeting so that all contentious issues will be resolved, “ the Governor said

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Nyandarua Wind Power Project

The US$145m wind power project in Nyandarua County has received a green light from the political class and area residents to have it go ahead. The project is expected to add 61MW of electricity to the national grid.

Funded by various foreign investors, the project is being undertaken by Kinangop Wind Park Ltd which is a Kenyan energy company. It had initially stalled as investors, politicians and land owners had disagreed on its continuation. In a meeting held by stakeholders, it was concluded that investor’s leasehold the affected land be reduced from 60 years to 25 years.

Kinangop Wind Park is the first independent large-scale wind power farm in East Africa and a landmark transaction for both the African power sector and the wind power project finance market. Kinangop Wind Park Ltd has appointed Aurecon South Africa Pty Ltd as owner’s engineer for the project, which is majority owned by African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM). General Electric will provide 38 wind turbines for the project.

Locals have demanded for 100% of all unskilled labor and 70% of skilled workforce in the new deal that is yet to be signed. Apart from the job opportunities to come by with the new wind power project, the economy of this region will also be elevated, and more power will be added to the national grid.

Wind power/energy is a new alternative source of energy being harnessed in the country. Various projects are in the pipeline where more energy will be added into the national supply. This is due to the unreliable nature of hydroelectric power, especially during spells of draught. The effect of this is high cost of electricity, which in the recent past, has made some of major companies that had set base in Nairobi to shut down.