Meru County Rising Stakeholders Conference

KCA Vice Chancellor Prof.Noah.O. Midimba  addressed a two days  Meru County Rising Stakeholders Conference on Nurturing Entrepreneurship,Creativity and Innovation held at the Kenya Methodist University main campus.

Prof. Midamba was invited on Meru stakeholders forum to meet ,map out and prioritize the development agenda for the Meru county government by the county governor Peter Munya and  senator Kiraitu Murungi.

 Midamba  congratulated  the county  for coming up with such a development plan  stating that Meru county had started a process that will help the transform the country forever adding that if all counties had  followed on their footstep , Kenya would be a force to reckon with globally.

Prof. Midamba addressing  Meru Conference.

He emphasized on the importance of prioritizing the people when making  development plans. ‘The guiding principle to public service  transformation and reforms should  be guided  by simple phrases,people first.Transformation of  the public  service must be rightly judged  by practical differences people see in their everyday lives.What South Africans call’ Ba-tho Pole’, said  Prof. Midamba.

Professor whose focus was on innovation discussed  innovation in public sector in six distinct aspects- new or improved services, process innovation, administrative  innovation, radical change of rationality, conceptual innovation and system innovation.

According to Pathenon  Education  Center 2012 study,the wealth of a country  is strongly  correlated  to the education  of its populace. Meru county has a population of 1.4 people out of which 71.4% are able to read and write,  84%  between the ages of 15-18 attend school and 3%  of the people have secondary education. The sum effect of this is that Meru county has one of the highest  literacy level in the country which according to the professor is recommendable.

Midamba further urged the people of Meru to revamp or overhaul their education system in order to  respond to the needs of the people.’ You need to celebrate the achievements young people who can succesfully  create next generation of  M-Pesa . Education outcomes must be judged on the skill as opposed to the exam results’, obseved professor.

He pointed out that to remain competative in the global market, the national and county governments must be determined by the criteria of satisfying the needs of the people,efficient utilization of resources and above all adding value to kenyans.

Other speakers  during the conference included cabinet secretary for education, Prof. Jacob Kaimenyi, Vision 2O3O Delivery  Secretariate Director  General Mugo Kibati Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi, South Africa Based Citibank Africa Head of Corporation Finance Martin Mugambi, Stanbic Investment Services Regional Director, James Muratha and HELB CEO Charles Ringera among others.The conference was sponsored by Barclays bank.