Vicini said her government is working on modalities to partner with Makueni County, stating that transparency and accountability are crucial for the success of such a venture.
She stressed that her government would likely partner with the county on issues of climate change, environment, and water, which are significant challenges in the area.
โWe would like to partner on climate change and the environment. Makueni has a huge challenge in water, and I see this is the challenge that has been taken seriously. For the future of this county, we will be involved and support this in some ways,โ she posed.
On his part, Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr. agreed to partner with the Swedish government on the condition that everything they will be involved in will be free of corruption.
โThe Ambassador has agreed to work with Makueni on serious conditions, which include ensuring that anything the government of Sweden is engaged with in Kenya or Makueni, is free of corruption,โ said Mutula.
The Swedish government has demonstrated its commitment to transparency and accountability through technology, monitoring projects, and hospitals.
During her visit to Kenya, Vicini visited the Youth and Innovation Centre at Green Park in Wote Town, visited the Kitungu Sand Dam, and visited Kivale Forest to see conservation efforts by the Community Forest Associations (CFA) in Mbooni Sub County.
The Executive Committee Member for Water, Irrigation, and Sanitation, Eng. John Kieti, revealed that they needed Sh34 million to construct a sump of 100 cubic meters, put up a solar system, and build a conventional water treatment plant.
โAs you can see, we have the Ambassador from Sweden with us here, and we shall try to convince her if we can enter into a partnership on how they can assist us,โ said Kieti.
Eng. Kieti attributed the current huge flow of water at the Kaiti River to the increased construction of sand dams, which have contributed to the realisation of water and demonstrated resilience to climate change.
Source: Kenya News Agency (KNA)
