The National Government Coordination Secretariat is set to give the national executive a comprehensive report on the challenges facing the completion of 51 ongoing priority projects undertaken by the government across the country.
Dan Ameyo, a legal advisor in the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, while visiting Kiambu National Polytechnic (KINAP) on their final day of projects in central Kenya, said that the secretariat is on a mission to verify the actual status of 51 priority projects that the government has identified, with Technical Vocational ETs being one of them.
“Ours is to check the actual status of the projects and get to know whether there are challenges and together the whole of government approach to know how we can be able to resolve any outstanding challenges so that the projects can be completed on time and give the benefits that were intended for the wananchi are realized,” Ameyo said.
He said the projects are critical and must be completed on time, and challenges must be resolved quickly.
He said that all the projects are on different stages of completion and are ongoing where the intentions of the projects to benefit the public will be realized.
“There could be delays in disbursement of funds, but all these projects are government funded, and those which are donor funded are on track to be completed and their benefits realised,” he said.
He added that projects are being assessed and verified throughout the country to ensure that Government programs are completed on time and within the set budget.
“We have a total of 51 priority projects under the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA)that the committee is closely monitoring their progress and completion so that the intended beneficiaries, who are the citizens, can reap the benefits for which the government decided to do the projects,” he said.
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However, he said that the country’s development has relied more on the technology arising from TVET and less on university graduates.
“The technology in TVET is the driving agent for the future. The young men and women should embrace TVET as it is the way to go in developing this country.
Sammy Waititu, KINAP principal, said that the national government coordination secretariat, during the government visit, will give a report on what needs to be done to deal with the challenges being faced by the institution.
“The government has supported the institution, which has helped it grow in a big way. KINAP is one of the biggest projects by the government in Kiambu County, and it is not a university as it enrols students who want to acquire technical skills,” he said.
He noted that the institution has a shortage of training staff due to the high number of students enrolling in courses and faces the challenge of teachers retiring.
“We are requesting that the government add more teachers as teachers continue to retire, and the increased enrollment requires more teachers. We had 5,000 students earlier, and now we have almost 10,000. We expect the number to rise to 15,000 during the September intake,” he said.
He said that the institution has another challenge of a lack of student walkways since the institution’s main entrance is located along the busy Kiambu road, where students are often knocked down by vehicles. There is a dire need for a pedestrian walkway and a flyover for students to pass through safely.
“Kiambu road is narrow, and there are many students, so there is a conflict between students and vehicles due to a lack of a pedestrian walkway,” he said.
By Felix Wanderi
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