Kiambu County launches free WiFi in 4 towns

Kiambu County Governor William Kabogo explained that the WiFi hotspots will help county residents get access to the information required for services such as applications for business permits among other services.

“The WiFi initiative is driven by the county’s mission to better use technology to improve service delivery for all Kiambu County residents,” he said.

The high capacity WiFi network will cover a 5km radius from the Central Business Districts of each of the county’s four largest towns, with a capacity of 10 Megabytes per second (Mbps).

Kabogo said the delivery of free street WiFi zones in Kiambu will enable rapid access to information vital for economic and educational development in the county.

Kiambu County ICT Director Douglas Njiraini said the Kiambu WiFi connection will be rolled out in phases, with the first phase being installations in Thika, Kikuyu, Ruiru and Kiambu towns.

“It is not just people in hospitals that will have access to the Internet, but businesses and offices around the point of connections will also benefit. These locations were chosen because they have the highest number of human traffic, highest concentration of businesses and offices, and thus they are expected to have the most impact,” he said.

The first of the new WiFi installations will be at Thika bus stop and the Level 5 Hospital; at the Ruiru sub-County Hospital and bus stop; in Kiambu town, near Kiambu Hospital; and in Kikuyu; at the sub-County offices, main stage, market and at Alliance Bus Stop to serve the main Kikuyu Mission Hospital, two universities, one college and 15 schools.

The rest of the county’s remaining sub-Counties, Limuru, Kabete Lari, Gatundu South, Gatundu North, Githunguri, Kiambaa, and Juja, will be connected in the second phase.

“The aim of this project is to promote the use of ICT among the people of Kiambu, encourage innovation, and bring services closer to the people, by improving service delivery through the Digitika Portal,” Njiraini said.

The Digitika Portal enables residents to log in and request services from the county as well as make online payments using M-PESA, Airtel Money, Visa or MasterCard.

The Head of Government Affairs at Liquid Telecom Kenya, William Oungo, said affordable Internet access should be seen as a basic need, necessary for the public to access information, adding that unemployed youths are locked out of accessing the Internet because of lack of disposable income to purchase data bundles.

The free hotspots now being set up in Kiambu are using the same technology as has been deployed in Nakuru for the Bilawaya project, initiated by the President’s Office and implemented in partnership with Nakuru county and Liquid Telecom Kenya.

The Bilawaya project won the ‘Best WiFi Deployment to Connect the Unconnected in Rural Environment’ award during the World Wi-Fi Day Awards held in Liverpool, in England, last month.

Research shows there is a direct correlation between Internet access and economic growth, with World Bank statistics showing that a 10 percent increase in Internet access results in approximately 1 percent of extra growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per year.

Internet access has been widely tipped to be the key differentiator in Kenya’s economic performance, creating at least 1,000 jobs a month in the business process outsourcing sector since 2013, according to the ICT Authority of Kenya.

Governor Kidero RETURNS from JAPAN trip, negotiated MASSIVE rail transport for Nairobi city

Nairobi Governor Dr. Evans Kidero returned earlier today from a weeklong trip to Japan where he clinched a deal to introduce commuter trains to the capital Nairobi.

Kidero is fighting a vicious city matatu industry wary of exiting the lucrative – and exploitative – city mass transit bus industry even as traffic snarl -ups eat into productive man hours of the city’s working class. The governor, already facing fierce opposition from the powerful matatu overlords – some who include senior police officers and Uhuru regime wheeler-dealers, however intimate he will follow through with his plans and deliver to the city county a reliable, affordable and safe public transport system.

The deal, with the Yurikamome Mass Transit Automated Guideway Train system, will see the city introduce modern commuter trains which will transport over 170,000 passengers daily.

The system is fully automated and transports about 170,000 passengers daily and runs for 16 hours each day.

“I am happy to announce that my government and the Japan International Corporation are at a very advanced stage of negotiations to commence construction of the mass transit system in Nairobi County through the Nairobi Metropolitan Transport Authority” Dr Kidero said.

He said construction is expected to start in February 2016.

In September last year, the governor visited Germany over the same rail transport initiative and met officials of another rail transport company which now seem to have been overtaken by this new development.

 

Kiambu county embarks on construction of 200mw wind power generation project in Ndeiya ward

Local investors have joined their foreign counterparts in sinking funds in wind energy with multibillion shilling projects investments into the lucrative sector.

Weeks after the World Bank bought Sh1.6bn equity in a locally owned Kipeto wind power project in Kajiado, a consortium of local and foreign investors are planning a Sh10bn plant in Kiambu County.

Kengen’s revenue from wind power rose 31 per cent to Sh117 million in 2014 compared to the previous year representing a meagre 0.4 per cent of the total power consumption.

The plant which will generate 200MW adds to a number of projects across the country including both gas and coal fired plants that Kengen hopes will help win off diesel generators from the national grid.

The Kipeto Energy Limited (KEL) was founded by Craftskills Wind Energy International Limited, a company owned by Kenyans Kenneth Namunje, Simon Guyo and Charles Munywoki.

Ndeiya Member of the County Assembly of Kiambu Nelson Munga hosted investors of the wind farm project in Njira ya Ruhuho’site in Ndeiya, Limuru sub-county.

Those present were local investors in the project Aperture Green Power Company, engineering contractor HydroChina, logistic and finance company Civicon, Saron Marketing Group for investment planning and Transcentury Group.

The CEO of Aperture Wind John Wainaina said the first phase of the project would generate 50MW of electricity and would be constructed within the next two years, and the second phase would generate 150MW.

Wind energy represents a tiny 0.4 per cent of Kenya’s total energy compared to 19.2 per cent of thermal power

“We have carried out a visibility study and received a licence from the Ministry of Energy to carry on with the project, and we will start construction in mid-June when raw materials are on site as currently we are importing metal for the meteorological masts,” said Mr Wainaina.

He added that the wind farm would sit on a 16km stretch of land in Nachu and Ndeiya wards where the wind is strongest.

The result of the project would be the installation of 33 wind turbines expected to provide low cost wind power for the national grid after a power purchase agreement is negotiated with Kenya Power and Lightning Company (KPLC).

The project investors said they would give back to the community by digging boreholes, rehabilitating roads, supporting education and offering jobs to the locals

Wooden car made in china

A 26-year-old woodcutter in Guangfeng county, Jiangxi province, makes a wooden car. It costs $16,000 and half a year to complete. (Zhuo Zhongwei)

Electricity connection fee lowered in rural areas (informal)

Kenyans living in informal settlements will enjoy cheap electricity connections following a deal between Kenya Power and two financial partners. Connection charges will drop to Sh1,160 from Sh35,000 in the partnership with the World Bank and African Development Bank. The two financial institutions will inject Sh12.2 billion each to connect more Kenyans to the grid, Kenya Power chief executive Ben Chumo said. CHEAP POWER Mr Chumo made the remarks when he officially launched the Global Partnership Output Based Aid (GPOBA) dubbed Stima Rahisi at Kiganjo Youth Polytechnic in Gatundu South. He was accompanied by area MP Moses Kuria. He said the program, to be rolled out in all 47 counties, will address power connectivity inadequacy where only 35 per cent of Kenyans are connected. Mr Chumo called on the beneficiaries to use the cheap power to improve their livelihoods through cottage industries and jua kali enterprises. “This way we shall also tackle insecurity since insecurity is a product of lack of opportunities,” he said. Other projects being undertaken by Kenya Power include street lighting in Nairobi City and its environs and the 22 kilometre road that connects Gatundu Town with Thika superhighway. There is also a major repair of networks and expansion of substations where 30 substations to be completed by June this year. Mr Kuria said electricity installed in primary schools will improve learning for the 23,000 pupils from the constituency.