Speaking at Nyankanda SDA Church on Saturday, Nyakundi, who was accompanied by Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba, thanked the church for being at the forefront of encouraging and promoting peace among communities through evangelism.
"You are the salt of the world as the Bible calls you, and we appreciate your work," he said.
The legislator said President Ruto is coming for development purposes and cited the commissioning of two Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) facilities at Marani and Ibeno in Kitutu Chache North and Nyaribari Chache constituencies, respectively.
Other development projects the President is expected to inspect and launch, Nyakundi said, include the affordable housing project, construction of the Nyabisiongororo–Sameta Junction road and the commissioning of a modern market at Ogembo Municipality in Bomachoge Chache Constituency.
The President is also expected to tour Bomachoge Borabu Constituency, where he will open the Tongeri Industrial Park and deliver a school bus to St Mary's Nyabiore Girls Secondary School in Magenche Ward, among other projects.
The Education CS asked the community to avoid divisive politics and work in harmony with the government of the day to realise more development projects in the region.
An independent survey by Education News reveals that different political leaders from the area have been moving from one place to another to coordinate preparations for the President's arrival.
Leaders inspect projects ahead of presidential visit
On Friday and Saturday, Governor Simba Arati, accompanied by Nyaribari Chache MP Zaheer Jhanda, Nominated Senator Essy Okenyuri, Kisii County Assembly Deputy Speaker Jacob Bagaka and other leaders, visited Tongeri Industrial Park to inspect its readiness for the presidential visit.
They asked residents to avoid insisting on compensation for the land where the park was constructed, saying it is public land.
At Ibeno Ward in Nyaribari Chache, the leaders assured residents of the completion and commissioning of the KMTC facility, which has stalled for more than 15 years.
Ibeno KMTC offers renewed hope for rural learners
For the people of Ibeno, the coming of KMTC is not just another building. It is a dream that has waited for a generation.
For more than 15 years, parents have watched the stalled structure stand as a monument to broken promises. Children have grown up, finished school and left for colleges in Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret and Nakuru because there was no medical college at home.
Many bright students from poor families missed the chance to train as nurses, clinical officers, laboratory technologists and community health workers simply because they could not afford fares, rent and upkeep in faraway towns.
Having a KMTC within the rural area changes all that in a way that touches every home.
It brings education closer to home. A girl from Ibeno, a boy from Marani, a child from Bobasi, will now be able to walk to college from home. Parents will save money that would have gone towards rent and transport. That saved money can pay fees, buy books and feed the family.
A KMTC does not come alone either. It comes with lecturers, cooks, watchmen, cleaners, drivers, librarians and suppliers of food, stationery and building materials.
Local shops will grow. Boda boda riders will get customers. Landlords will get tenants. The rural economy will breathe.
Expected benefits for healthcare and the local economy
Healthcare in the area will also feel the difference. KMTC students undertake practical training in nearby health centres and dispensaries.
That means Ibeno Health Centre, Marani Sub-County Hospital and other facilities around the area could benefit from additional support.
Mothers could be attended to faster. Children could be immunised on time. The community may no longer have to travel to Kisii town for every minor ailment, as the college could attract doctors, nurses and clinical officers to live and work in the area.
Beyond money and medicine, there is inspiration.
When a child in Ibeno sees older brothers and sisters in KMTC uniforms every morning, the dream of becoming a nurse or a doctor stops being a distant story from Nairobi.
It becomes real. It becomes possible. It becomes something you can touch.
That is how a village produces its own health workers and how a village becomes less dependent on outsiders to treat its sick.
And with the college comes development that stays.
Roads leading to the college must be improved. Water must be connected. Electricity must be stable. Internet must work. Markets must grow.
All these things, once built for KMTC, remain for the whole community long after the President has left.
That is why residents of Ibeno and Marani are not just waiting for the President to cut a ribbon. They are waiting for a turning point.
A stalled project that has haunted them for 15 years could finally come to life, and with it, the promise that rural children, too, can become medical professionals without leaving their home soil.
As preparations gather pace across Kisii and Nyamira, people on the ground are holding on to one hope: that the President's visit will not end with speeches and applause, but with open gates at Marani and Ibeno, working markets, passable roads and development that finally settles in their villages and stays.
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