Following a petition filed by the Kiama kia Muyembu Trust, the Committee on Youth, Gender, Sport, Culture, Children and Social Services, led by Chairperson Nominated MCA Mary Kavinda tabled a report directing the County Government to evaluate cultural groups’ suitability for involvement in county cultural programmes.

The Culture Department, in consultation with the office of the County Attorney and other relevant stakeholders, develop and submit to the County Assembly a collaboration framework with registered cultural organizations within 120 days. The framework should provide mechanisms for program support, cultural education, and environmental conservation activities among others.

In its report, the Committee also gave a 90-day ultimatum for the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Youth, Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services in consultation with the CECM for Finance and Economic Planning to undertakes an assessment on the suitability and viability of establishment of a County Fund to cater for the promotion of culture and other related purposes.

The Ward Representatives unanimously resolved that pending the recommendation on establishment of a formal fund, the County Government should ensure that there are budgetary allocations in future county budgets to promote cultural values related to family cohesion, responsible parenting and intergenerational knowledge transfer.

The County Culture Docket was also urged to identify and collaborate with community-based cultural organizations, to design and implement programs for men, women, and youth, aimed at promoting customary and cultural awareness, family responsibilities, and the enhancement of peace and unity within the community in line with the Embu County Cultural and Heritage Act, 2016.

The legislators have as well advised the County Executive to within twelve months undertake a comprehensive survey and document sacred places historically used by Embu forefathers for prayers, sacrifices and other cultural activities with the aim of identifying and preserving these sites as community monuments and ensure that the recognized sites, are declared as community monuments, in order to legally protect and promote the associated cultural heritage.

The MCAs advised the County Government to consider integrating the promotion and protection of sacred places with environmental conservation efforts by ensuring the preservation of forests, water towers, and water catchment areas linked to these sites, at the same time fast-tracking the establishment of a framework for identifying and honouring past and current Embu heroes and heroines through the erection of monuments, cenotaphs, and the renaming of significant roads and centres.

In addition, the Assembly is calling for prioritization of the completion of the stalled Culture Resource Centre at the County Culture Offices as well as the rehabilitation of the dilapidated cultural homesteads within the precincts and further consider plans to establish a museum, archive, and library for preservation of cultural heritage while operationalizing the community cultural centre at the headquarters once completed, and in the planning for the establishment of similar centres in other locations. This should include exploring options for allocating land and other resources cultural organizations, to assist in the establishment and management of additional community-run cultural centres, archives, museums, and libraries.

This was disclosed  by a team from KOMEX who paid a courtesy call on Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili on Tuesday. The digital trading platform is designed to streamline access to markets for both agricultural and non-agricultural commodities. 

KOMEX, a financial state corporation under the State Department for Trade, is mandated to promote market access and address inefficiencies in commodity trading.

The platform is currently in the onboarding phase, targeting a broad range of stakeholders including farmers, aggregators, cooperatives, traders, warehouse operators, financial institutions, off-takers, service providers and institutional consumers.

Deputy Director Boniface Makau, said Makueni was the leading producer of pulses, key commodities that stand to benefit greatly from the new trading system.

Through the digital platform, farmers will be able to list their produce and preferred selling prices. Buyers can then make direct payments to sellers’ bank accounts within 48 hours. 

The deputy county boss emphasized the need for national legislation to expand storage infrastructure in counties.

The county commissioner allayed fears of discrimination saying that men and women will get equal chances of recruitment in the exercise. He also added that persons living with disabilities will get 30% of slots available.

"Persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. They will receive priority consideration", he explained.

Households  will be required to send only one person for the recruitment to avoid having many relatives recruited while other families miss out.

1014 workers will be employed in Kitui County and they will be supervised by 35 supervisors. For each day worked, the recruits will be paid KSh500 while their supervisors will earn KSh580 for each worked day. All will be paid using MPESA. 

The work to be done include planting trees, removing debris, garbage collection and managing government's legacy projects.

Commissioner Kipchumba Rutto called upon community leaders to ensure the youth get to know about the recruitment exercise in their barazas, door to door meetings, among other social forums. These leaders include chiefs, nyumba kumi elders, the media and the clergy.

The successful recruits will get first aid if injured during the work but they have been urged to work responsibly. This includes coming to work with personal protective equipment and working tools like pangas, machetes, jembes and wheelbarrows where applicable.

Speaking with fiery resolve during Madaraka Day celebrations at Makima Primary School, Mbarire made it clear she won’t sit back and watch as backroom political deals are made behind her back.

She revealed that secret night meetings are being held to strategize on Embu’s political direction, deliberately excluding the county’s elected leadership and without naming names, Mbarire warned that such schemes will not go unchallenged.

“If there is someone who has been fought for supporting the government it is me. But I have started seeing people trying to square some things for me and they are people who  in government I am defending daily.Those officers from Nairobi are holding night meetings in Embu to plan for Embu politics without involving me and other elected leaders pretending that they understand the politics of Embu better than us .I understand the political terrain of this county,'' Mbarire stated visibly angered.

The governor stated that she has been in politics for some time daring them to stop the trend or name the leaders in public. ''Dont bring fights from Nairobi to me or I put your names in public. Tell me where you were when I have been fighting for President William Ruto. Together with MCAs and my deputy, we traversed the whole county telling people to join this government so that we can benefit. Now you are ferrying fights from Nairobi bringing it in Embu. I will not accept.You know yourselves.Dare you come back to Embu again we shall meet face to face. I am a leader by my own right,'' she stated.

Mbarire further stated that she is a leader elected by the people of Embu and that she must be respected by other leaders the way she does.She noted that if there was any emerging problem in government, they ought to call her and inform but not disrespect her.

Her remarks are the clearest signal yet that political temperatures in Kenya Kwanza government are rising ahead of the 2027 elections, with battle lines already being drawn in the heart of Mt. Kenya politics.

On Friday last week, the Deputy President Prof. Kithure Kindiki made a quiet but politically loaded visit to Embu to address the rising insecurity cases. Unlike previous high-profile visits where local leaders, led by Governor Cecily Mbarire, take charge of mobilization and logistics, Kindiki’s stopover seemed different from previous arrangements. Governor Mbarire was not present when the deputy president visited with some sources close to her saying she was not aware that Kindiki was visiting the county. Shockingly, several members of the Embu county executive confessed in anonymity to the press that they were completely in the dark over the DP's visit.

Kindiki opted to instead work directly with the local business community to mobilize residents for the high-level visit. 

Curiously, the only elected leader from Embu county who accompanied Kindiki during the visit was Embu Senator Alexander Mundigi yet even he was not accorded the courtesy to address the crowd, a rare snub for a sitting senator.

Adding to the intrigue, several of Governor Cecily Mbarire’s close allies took to social media on the eve of Kindiki visit not to welcome the Deputy President, but to dismiss reports of his impending visit as mere speculation.

Mbarire was a no-show at a breakfast meeting held recently at Safari Park hotel in Nairobi raising eyebrows and fueling speculation within political circles in the Kenya Kwanza government.

In the past Kenya Kwanza visits, Governor Mbarire has played a central role, often personally whipping up support from grassroots leaders in mobilization. Four months ago, the Deputy President, in a meeting he held at his Karen residence disclosed that he had met with governor Mbarire and asked her why the president was being heckled in her home county yet she is the national chair and a UDA governor.

''I asked the governor how is it possible you are the national chairperson of UDA, you are a UDA governor and chairperson of the ruling party. You are aparty leader who as the president comes to your home town and he is heckled, what reason do we have to have you on board as the... Vijana wanapigia rais kelele hapo ati rais amesema kitu hapo hawapendi,'' Kindiki said then.

President William Ruto faced public disapproval in Embu County on several occasions in presence of Governor Mbarire, pointing to a shift in the region's political mood. One major incident happened on November 16, 2024, during the consecration of Bishop Peter Kimani as the Embu Catholic Bishop. As President Ruto spoke about government programs like the Affordable Housing initiative and the new Social Health Authority (SHA), parts of the crowd started jeering and murmuring, making it hard for him to continue addressing the meeting. The boos forced him to respond directly to the concerns raised by the residents.

Earlier, on April 4, 2024, during a tour of Embu, Ruto faced another cold reception in Embu town. Youths interrupted his address with chants of “Uongo! Uongo!” (“Lies! Lies!”), expressing dissatisfaction with unfulfilled promises. He pushed on with his speech, but the heckling highlighted growing frustrations in the area.

On January 3, 2025, during the burial of Eric Mutugi, son of former Embu Senator Lenny Kivuti, the then Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi was booed when he tried to read Ruto’s condolence message. The mourners rejected it, forcing Muturi to hand it to the family without reading it aloud.

Is this a sign that Governor Mbarire's grip on Embu’s political scene is weakening? Or could it be that Kenya Kwanza’s senior figures are beginning to sidestep the UDA national chairperson altogether?

He spoke during a two day public sensitisation forum on mitigation of AIDS pandemic and other syndemic diseases in Makueni, Wote on Tuesday.

The NSDCC collaborated with the Federation of Kenya Employers, Central Organisation of Trade Unions, HIV and  Aids Tribunal and the State Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to host  the event.

Ndolo said the campaign would also focus on work places to ensure that work mates do not pass the HIV/AIDS malady to  one another. "Employers and employees need access information on policies that prevent the spread of HIV and other syndemic diseases at the work place for the  zero spread to be achieved," pointed Ndolo.

He emphasized on the provision of and unrestricted  access to condoms that help prevent infection at all public facilities for a healthy nation.

The representatives of civil  society groups present were urged to sensitize members of grassroot community based organisations on sexual transmitted diseases,Tuberculosis, mental health as well as reproductive health.

Ndolo further lamented that the triple threat facing school girls  in the country should not occur in the present day Kenya. The director noted that girls  at the  productive age of between 21 years to 29 years are at the highest risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, premature pregnancy and sexual and gender based violence.

Members  of the informal sectors included bodaboda  operators, hawkers, jua kali traders who participated  in the sensitisation forum promised to spread the anti -HIV/AIDS message to the people they interact with.

Makueni county multi-sectorial coordinator, Joseph Kavoi, disclosed that in the year 2023, new recorded HIV cases stood at 179. He further said the disease prevelance for Makueni county stands at 2 percent while that of the country stands at 3.3 percent.

On January 20, US President Donald Trump sanctioned a three month stoppage of foreign aid that affected all United States Agency for International Development support. USAID funding support affected Africa the most. Among projects it funded were those fighting HIV spread, delivering food assistance and promoting security.