Caption.

Ngurubani town

MWEA/NGURUBANI FEATURE.

JANE MUGAMBI 3RD JAN 2011.

The town is located at the foot of Mt Kenya in Kirinyiga County in what is popularly known as the Mwea/Tebere irrigation scheme.

Ngurubani town which is in Mwea constituency dates back in the early 60s after land demarcation and adjudication.

Many people who did not get land in the upper part of Kirinyaga County were moved to Mwea where they worked in the rice plantations.

This town started developing slowly and is a cosmopolitan one since it is inhabited by people from all corners of the country.

The populous communities here are the Kikuyus' followed by Kambas' while other communities also live in Mwea.

Other people who were resettled in Mwea are the ex-Mau Mau freedom fighters who did not get land in the upper region of Kirinyaga County.

The town developed at a snail pace initially since rice farmers were oppressed and forced to sell their rice to the rice board at a throw away price.

A farmer was only allowed to take only 12 bags of rice after harvesting. The board had all the powers to decide the price of rice and this benefited only a few individuals leaving the farmer poor.

According to Kirinyaga county council chairman Councillor Cyprian Kangeri private rice haulers were outlawed except one the Mwea rice mill which enjoyed that monopoly.

However this took a swift turn after rice farmers went on strike in 1998 demanding the government to liberalize the rice sector.

There was physical confrontation between Mwea youths and the police where some people died while others were seriously injured in the confrontation.

The farmers moved to court where they sued the government for denying them full control of their rice fields.

The court ruled in the favour of the farmers and said that the rice and paddy belonged to the farmer and from this time the town saw tremendous development and investors started investing in Ngurubani town.

Many people started buying plots in the town and putting up businesses and within a short duration land prices in mwea went up steadily.

There was need to secure land where the town would develop and people living around the town were moved in the lower parts of mwea and compensated for their land.

According to Mr Kangeri the council did a mistake because it did not collect the older title deeds from the farmers after they were given new land.

The kept title deeds for the older pieces of land and the new ones and they later went to court demanding that they were still the owners of the land where the town was to develop.

This has put the council at loggerheads with the farmers who still claim ownership of the land to date.

Mr Kangeri appealed to the ministers for local government and land to set up a tribunal which will resolve the land issue in Mwea.

Land dealers in Mwea say that it is possible to get a piece of land in Ngurubani like any other part of the country.

Transportation in Ngurubani town is mostly done by use of donkey carts.

The town has more than 1000 donkey carts and more than 2000 donkeys which pose a serious traffic problem in the town.

Ngurubani is an agricultural town with rice farming as the major economic activity and other horticultural crops such as French beans and tomatoes.

Donkey carts are used to transport rice paddy from the farms to the market and also carry fertilizers and other farm inputs from the market to the farms.

According to Stephen Ndiga a rice farmer in Mwea donkeys are preferred in Mwea because they are cheap and the terrain is flat making it easy for them to move around easily.

The town lies along the busy Meru Nairobi highway and this makes traffic especially from vehicles transporting Miraaa to Nairobi and other towns a big challenge.

Miraa vehicles have caused many severe accidents along that highway killing many and injuring others.

According to Kirinyaga county council clerk A.K Arithi all stake holders in the transport sector should sit down and find a lasting solution to this problem.

To further sort out the traffic problem in the town Kirinyaga county council have built a modern bus stage in Ngurubani at a cost of 70 million.

According to Mr.aArithi the clerk to the council the bus park will be opened any time to ease traffic congestion in the town.

Accommodation facilities have been put up making Ngurubani a nice place for visitors and other investors.

High class hotels have also been built and Ngurubani town is one of the fastest growing town in the region according to Alice Wanjiku a rice traders in Mwea.

With the high circulation of money in Ngurubani town security has always been a problem in the past.

Gangsters target rice traders during market days and many people have been robbed huge sums of money by these robbers.

According to Kirinyaga county council chairman Councilor Cyprian Kang'eri no investor would sleep in Ngurubani town in the past but things have changed now.”You can walk free in the town even at night” added Mr Kang'eri.

Clean water has been a problem in Ngurubani for a long time. However the problem has been solved since there is enough chlorinated water in the town according to Mr Kang'eri.

Road network in the Mwea rice pads is very poor and this affects transportation of gods to the market especially during rainy season.

This problem will soon be a thing of the past after a plan to Murram all roads in the Mwea rice pads is complete.

Mr Kang'eri said that the project will be funded by the economic stimulus programme in Mwea constituency.

During the earl 70s the town had only 3 banks but after the liberalization of rice farming several banks have opened branches in the town and they have recorded booming business.

According to David Gitari a businessman in Ngurubani town there are many opportunities in the town since he has been recording good profits every year.

He advised investors to exploit rice business, agrovets, and petrol and machinery business in the town because it is an agricultural zone.

Mwea Member of Parliament Peter Gitau called on the government to prevent rice farmer from losses incurred when the local market is flooded with Pakistan rice.

He alleged that corrupt business people import rice from Pakistan as grade 3 rice but in the real sense it is grade one and no tax is paid for it.

"we know prominent businessmen who are being protected by powerful people in government and are importing rice flooding the market with pakistan pretending to be pishori"he added.

They then mix the rice with Mwea pishori rice and sell at a cheaper price affecting local farmers because they have no alternative but to sell their rice at a lower price.

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