H.E.Prof.Paul Chepkwony on October 12, officially opened three modern classrooms at Chesamisiet primary school in Bureti sub county.

The project was made possible through the funding from the local community under the stewardship of area MCA, Hon.Nancy Kimeto.

The Governor offered to assist the school have two more classrooms to accommodate the growing numbers of pupils in the locality.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE

In the spirit of sowing the seed of peace and reconciliation, Governors and other leaders from the Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB), today converged in Nandi county to celebrate this year's International Day of Peace.

The day witnessed the signing of several peace agreements among the counties of Kericho, Nandi, Kakamega and Vihiga counties with all the stakeholders committing themselves to promote a peaceful coexistence among all the communities in the region.

Kericho Governor,H.E.Prof.Paul Chepkwony and Kisumu Deputy Governor,Dr.Mathews Owili,signed a peace pact which will see a cessation to the frequent tribal conflicts along the borders of Kisumu and Kericho.

The event witnessed by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) chairman,Rev.Dr.Samuel Kobia, also saw Governors,H.E.Stephen Sang(Nandi),H.E.Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) and H.E.Wilber Otichilo(Vihiga),sign peace agreements to end the border conflicts along their common borders.

*KEWASCO UNVEILS NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS*

The new board of directors of Kericho Water and Sanitation Company Limited (KEWASCO), on September 16th, officially unveiled by H.E the Governor,Prof.Paul Kiprono Chepkwony.

The team will be chaired by Roseline Ngeny and will serve for a term of six years.

The Governor challenged the board members to observe code of ethics and conduct and ensure they are always effective and efficient in their operations.

The biggest challenge ahead of this new team is the implementation of a strategy aimed at minimizing water losses caused by illegal connection and faulty old pipelines.

*KEWASCO TO EXPAND WATER ACCESS*

Kericho Water and Sanitation Company Limited (KEWASCO) is looking for partners to help in minimizing water loss due to illegal connection and faulty pipelines.

This was announced today during a stakeholders consultative meeting to assess the progress of KEWASCO since the merger of the defunct TILWASCO and the former Kericho (KEWASCO) Water and Sanitation Companies in 2018.

According to KEWASCO Managing Director,Eng.Kibii Siele, the company was lossing close to 5million litres of water daily to Non-Revenue water out of the 10million litres produced daily due to old and faulty infrastructure.

Eng.Siele said JICA has already expressed interest in partnering with KEWASCO in trying to fix such infrastructure.

Speaking while presiding over the same event, Kericho Deputy Governor,H.E.Susan Kikwai appealed to all stakeholders in the water sector to safeguard the water infrastructure and report any illegal connection to KEWASCO and the law enforcement officers.

The DG said water as a resource was a key component of catalysing socio- economic growth hence the need to invest heavily in its management.

*RORET PINEAPPLE PLANT TO ROAR THIS YEAR*

Farmers in Kericho County have been urged to venture into commercial pineapple farming in order to reap maximum benefits from Roret pineapple plant which is due for commissioning before the end of the year.

This was disclosed today during a meeting between H.E the Governor,Prof.Paul Chepkwony and Principal Secretary for Industrialisation,Dr.Francis Owino and other officials from Kenya Industrial Research And Development Institute(KIRDI) led by its Chief Executive Officer,Prof.David Tuigong.

The PS who later toured the plant in the company of County Commissioner,Kamau Karungo, County Chief Officer in charge of Trade and Industrialisation,Victor Langat and his Agriculture counterpart,Lilian Kerio,urged farmers to join co-operatives in order to benefit from economies of scale and lower their costs of acquiring inputs and easy access to market linkages.

On 24th April, Kericho County unveiled mass COVID-19 testing. at the KEMRI/Walter Reed laboratory in Kericho today.

We are proud of our collaboration with KEMRI which means that we can now conduct up to 2000 COVID19 tests per day. The equipment are top notch and the KEMRI lab in Kericho is one-of-its-own kind. We no longer need to send our samples to Kisumu or Nairobi for analysis.

Soon additional equipment will be activated to increase the daily testing capabilities to 6000 per day.

This service will extend to most of Western Kenya counties and will go a long way to boost the national mass testing exercise and support the fight against COVID-19

Our mass screening at all entry points is also on course. I am happy to report that so far, over 50,000 persons have been screened and none has been isolated for exhibiting the symptoms of the disease.

Stay safe everyone. Stay home. Wash your hands. Sanitize. Practice social distancing. Avoid touching your face, eyes, nose or mouth."

Kericho Governor H. E. Prof. Paul Chepkwony

On 22nd April, the County Government of Kericho provided humanitarian support including foodstuff, blankets and other essential basic commodities to more than 100 households in Kunyak, Kipkelion West Sub County who were affected by a landslide which occurred in the area on Monday night.

County Executive Committee Member for Education, Culture and Social Services and Ag. CECM for Public Service Management and Administration Hon. Edna Ruto who oversaw the distribution of the support packages on behalf of Kericho Governor H. E. Prof. Paul Chepkwony, said the Governor was determined to do everything possible to support all those who were affected by the tragedy that claimed one life in the area.

She advised those still living in areas that have been marked as being in danger of landslides to relocate to safer areas and encouraged the locals to plant more trees to reduce incidents of landslides and mudslides in the future.

CECM Ruto thanked the Hindu Community in Kericho for donating some of the items that were distributed to the victims and called on other partners to also come on board and support the humanitarian support program. Area MCA Hon. David Rono also participated in the exercise alongside other officials of both the National and County Administrations.

Did you know that if you are in Kericho County and you know someone who arrived recently from a corona-stricken country and refuses to self quarantine you can report on Toll Free line 0800720464 for action to be taken?

Stay safe and observe all the government directives on the prevention of the Coronavirus Disease

If you are in Kericho County and you are feeling unwell or you have questions concerning the Coronavirus Disease, please make use of our Toll free hotline.

In the meantime let us continue adhering to the provided preventive guidelines to protect ourselves from the virus

On 17th January, 2020, Kericho County had the priviledge of receiving the Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kenya Hon. Justice David Maraga at my office. Justice Maraga was in Kericho on official duty to assess the situation at the courts and hold a meeting with members of the Bench and the Bar.

Justice Maraga discussed various issues of interest and deliberated on how the County Government of Kericho and the Judiciary can work together to promote enhanced access to justice in Kericho.

Indeed as the County Government of Kericho, we have donated land in Kipkelion for the construction of a court and we look forward to that being realized as soon as possible.

We are glad that the Chief Justice agreed with my request for the establishment of a county court for resolution of disputes arising from enforcement of County Laws.

He has also pledged to second more judicial staff to Kericho to speed up conclusion of cases pending in court, especially those involving land disputes, some of which have dragged on in the legal system for far too long.

on 30th of January, 2020, Kericho County had the honour of receiving the US Ambassador to Kenya H. E. Kyle McCarter to Kericho County. Together with the Governor of Kericho County, Prof. Paul Chepkwony, he held discussions on various areas of collaboration between Kericho and various US agencies including USAID, the Walter Reed Project (WRP) and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDs Relief (PEPFAR). We are honoured as a county to host the largest base of the WRP in the region. WRP is a bastion of medical research in the entire region working with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) to discover new and more effective vaccines and drugs to combat a variety of illnesses including HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria. 

Agriculture remains a major source of livelihood in Kericho County.

On 13th February 2020, as part of my efforts to empower farmers,  Kericho County  disbursed funds amounting to Kshs. 57.7 Million to support 60 farmer groups from the marginalized areas of Soin, Sigowet, Kipkelion, Kamasian, Ainamoi and Kapsaos wards under the Climate Smart Agriculture Project (CSAP).

The selection of the beneficiaries was done based on the wards levels of marginalization and the most recent poverty index report.

This money will go directly to the farmers groups as well as provision of training and field extension services for the farmers.

We also took steps to ensure that marginalized groups including the Talai, Ogiek, Widows and Persons living with disabilities benefitted from the project.

The selected farmer groups engage in farming in the areas of dairy, indigenous poultry, sorghum, finger millet and banana farming which are considered to be climate smart as they can thrive even in the changing climatic conditions.

Through this program which is supported by the World Bank, we aim to increase production in these key agricultural sub-sectors so as to enhance food security and reduce poverty.

We have called upon all the 60 groups which have received the funds to use the resources prudently so as to achieve economic transformation.

We will continue rolling out more programs to support our farmers produce the highest agricultural yields possible using modern techniques.

Following the highly successful hosting of the Kenya Inter Counties Sports and Cultural Association (KICOSCA) Games earlier this year, I am proud to announce that Kericho has yet again been selected to host the 41st Edition of the Kenya Communications Sports Organizations (KECOSO) Games scheduled for next year.

Our county was selected by the KECOSO Joint Organizing Committee after earning a score of 94.5% following a thorough evaluation exercise to assess infrastructural and accommodation facilities, beating three other counties which had expressed interest to host the event.

The games will feature 12 sporting disciplines including Athletics, Golf, Snooker, Swimming, Basketball, Football, Darts, Pool, Scrabble, Volleyball, Netball and Table Tennis. 

I thank the KECOSO Organizing Committee for choosing Kericho for the games. 

Our county last hosted these games in the year 1990 and I want to assure the Organizing Committee that we will do everything possible to make the event a resounding success.

I call on our business community once again to prepare adequately for enhanced business during the week the games will be held.

H. E. Prof. Paul Chepkwony,

Governor, Kericho County

Kericho County receives H. E. Dr. William Samoei Ruto. H.E. Prof. Paul Chepkwony was honoured to receive our Deputy President H. E. Dr. William Samoei Ruto at the Chepngobob Methodist Church of Kenya for a church service. Karibu Kericho Your Excellency.