We are almost coming to the end of the journey we commenced in the beginning of this month of organising the communities of Nakuru North sub-county under the Nyumba Kumi umbrella. We have come to understand that organising the communities at hyperlocal is a crucial exercise for implementing data driven projects and for enhancing citizen voices in governance.
Today saw us take the Community Leaders induction to Mutukanio location in Nakuru North sub-county. Mutukanio Location is surrounded by Kabatini Location, Bahati Location, Kirima and Ndungiri Locations. Mutukanio Location is divided into 3 sub-locations which are: Mutukanio, Karunga and Land Mawe. Mutukanio sub-location has a flat terrain covered by lush green grass and trees, while both Karunga and Land mawe have a hilly landscape that is especially green in a beautiful and attractive way. The main economic activity in this area is farming which they practice on both large and small scale. They cultivate plants such as coffee, maize, beans and potatoes. The location has a really good network of roads that are tarmacked which makes it easy for farmers to take their produce to the markets for sale.
Mutukanio Location has a population of approximately 12,776 people and about 2,600 households this makes the location the fifth largest in the whole of Nakuru north sub-county, this statistics are as per the 2009 census. The Community Leaders induction today was well attended with a turn out of 93%. Today’s group of leaders was fairly young compared to what we have experienced in the previous locations we have inducted. The average age of leaders was noted to be 60 years. Also though we did not achieve gender balance the number of women in the Community Leaders induction was slightly higher compared to the previous locations and they comprised of 37% of the audience which was quite impressive. The youths (people under the age of 40 years) were also not left behind this time, and they were present and were about 20% of the Community Leaders that attended.
The Leaders were taken through the same sessions as their counterparts ie Leadership and conflict resolution, Child protection and Adult education.The leadership session moderated by the ACC1 Monica Ithatwa began shortly after introductions and welcoming note from the area Chief Mr. Paul Mbuthia who is the led local administrator of Mutukanio Location.
The Nakuru North Sub County, Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Mr. Kisilu Mutua, joined the meeting and was greeted with excitement clearly indicating the good relation he had with the local leaders. He briefly took time to emphasise the importance of their roles as Community Leaders in driving development initiatives in the community and also upholding security within the community.
One thing was clearly evident that the leaders left the Community Leaders induction with a renewed energy and commitment to work for their community. They had recognised that as Community Leaders they cannot be paid enough for the work they do for their community. It was definitely a good day.
