State House Head of Special Projects and Programmes Dennis Itumbi addressing members of Mbiri ACK Church in Gichugu Constituency on September 6, 2026/ ALICE WAITHERAState House Head of Special Projects and Programmes Dennis Itumbi has stepped up efforts to establish what he calls ‘The Kirinyaga We Want’ agenda, with plans to take the initiative to the floor of the Kirinyaga County Assembly.
Itumbi plans to write to County Assembly Speaker Muteti Murimi this week seeking time for representatives of the initiative to appear before MCAs and present priorities identified by residents.
Speaking at Mbiri ACK Church in Gichugu Constituency on Sunday, Itumbi argued that Kirinyaga residents should have a platform to define their own political and development interests rather than continue adopting agendas shaped elsewhere.
“We are going to be writing to the Kirinyaga County Assembly this week because the people of Kirinyaga want to be heard. We want to appear on the floor of the Kirinyaga County Assembly to prosecute the case of the Kirinyaga we want,” Itumbi said.
The initiative is being developed through public forums that Itumbi plans to hold across the county, where residents will identify priorities and assess government performance.
The consultations will cover agriculture, infrastructure, employment, education, healthcare, water and other development needs, while residents will also identify stalled or incomplete projects requiring attention.
Itumbi said consultations have already been held in Ndia and Kirinyaga Central as the initiative seeks to build a clear picture of what residents want.
The views collected will be consolidated into a countywide blueprint that Itumbi wants to use when politicians seeking votes in the 2027 General Election engage residents.
He proposed that aspiring leaders be presented with the document and challenged to make clear commitments on how they would implement the priorities identified by the people.
“When politicians come to ask for our votes, we must have a document on the table. We must ask them: this is what Kirinyaga wants; what are you bringing to the table? We should no longer vote first and negotiate later,” he urged.
Itumbi, who hails from the county, said the initiative is aimed at creating a distinct Kirinyaga identity and giving residents a stronger voice in determining the county’s political, economic and development direction.
"We don’t want to be Kirinyaga East or West. We just want to be the Kirinyaga we want,” he said.
The proposed division has generated competing positions across the region, with leaders and elders in Kirinyaga rejecting efforts to place the county firmly within either side of the purported divide.
Itumbi maintained that ‘The Kirinyaga We Want’ should not be interpreted as supporting the splitting of Mt Kenya, arguing that the initiative is instead about giving residents space to define their own interests.
“It is not true that the agenda of The Kirinyaga We Want is to help anyone who would want to split the mountain. In any case, the footstool of the mountain is Kirinyaga. If Kirinyaga went in that direction of splitting the mountain, it would mean the mountain doesn’t exist,” he said.
He said the initiative seeks to move residents away from politics driven by slogans and toward an agenda-based approach in which leaders are judged against priorities identified by the people.
Itumbi argued that Kirinyaga has for years participated in political campaigns shaped by the interests of others, and that the time had come for residents to articulate and defend their own priorities.
He said the Assembly, whose motto is “Your Assembly, Your Voice”, offers an appropriate platform for residents to present their agenda directly to MCAs and political leaders.
Itumbi said his letter to the Speaker will request that time be allocated, preferably before the end of September, for the initiative to formally present its case before the Assembly.
The move marks an attempt to turn the initiative from public consultations into a formal political and development agenda ahead of the 2027 elections.
