The alleged “cash for babies” scheme by the Councillor of my rural ward, Habel Kijana Mutahi is not only ridiculous, nonsensical and misinformed but also offensive and slanderous to the people of Giathugu Location in particular and Mukurwe-ini District in general.
Councilllor Mutahi is seeking cheap publicity by highlighting an issue of population dynamics which he has little or no understanding at all. The population statistics in the area cannot be explained on the mere basis that the number of recorded births is lower than those of the recorded deaths. This would be simplistic and ignorant the demographic dynamism in a growing economy. The fact of the matter is that there is a very high level of rural-urban migration from Mukurwe-ini by the younger generation. It is in fact easier for me and other people of my generation to organise a riika (age-group) meeting in Nairobi, Nyeri, Nakuru or Mombasa Towns than in Mukurwe-ini. Secondly due to the shrinking sizes of land which is reflected by uneconomically viable individual holdings, many of our relatives have migrated from Mukurwe-ini and other parts of Nyeri County to Laikipia, Nakuru and Nyandarua Counties in the last 20 years. These people have bought land and settled in those counties and many have no intention of going back to Mukurwe-ini. Thirdly, it is quite obvious that the net result of this massive migration has affected the productive segment of the population in Mukurwe-ini. My children and those of my age-mates are not born or registered in Mukurwe-ini but in places where we now reside. On the converse wherever my generation is bereaved we return the remains of the deceased home (to Mukurwe-ini) for internment.
The presumed high rate of poverty in Mukurwe-ini only exists in the fertile imagination of Councillor Mutahi. The Constituency Poverty Index is published annually by the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Planning and is used by the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Board in the distribution of the CDF funds around the country. Mukurwe-ini appears in the group of the top 30 richest constituencies in the country. The high number of Health facilities in Mukurwe-ini and easy access to family planning services is good for the area and will help in population planning for sustainable development and in curbing the spread of the HIV pandemic.
