Brief overview of the Municipality of Ngong
The Municipality of Ngong is in Kajiado County, Kenya and straddles between longitudes 36° 36′ 21” E, 36° 51′ 0” E and latitudes 1° 18′ 20” S, 1° 27′ 35” S. The area covers approximately 15,229.00 hectares.
The Municipality of Ngong which was created in 2018 under the reign of His Excellency Joseph Jama ole Lenku, borders Kiambu County to the North and Nairobi County is 17km to the North East.
The Ngong Municipality straddles Kajiado North Sub-County, covering Ngong, Oloolua, Olkeri, Nkaimurunya, and Ongata Rongai Wards; and Kajiado West Sub-County covering southern regions of Ewuaso Oo Nkidong’i and a part of Keekonyokie Wards.
Ngong Municipality consists of three major urban centres namely Ngong’, Ongata Rongai, and Kiserian.
These towns are witnessing rapid urbanisation characterised by their distinct advantages indicating their potential for growth and development. The rising number of residents and urbanization is what befitted the area the status of a municipality.
Ngong’ is mainly an administrative and commercial town, while Ongata Rongai and Kiserian are service towns. All these towns serve as a major residential hub for the Nairobi Metropolitan region with a thriving real estate economy.
The Municipality presents budding opportunities for heritage conservation and tourism development, considering the wind farm with thirty wind turbines installed across the Ngong’ Hills, traditional colonial-style houses and is viewed as a water tower in this region. This makes it both a residential hub and an industrial town for the cottage industry as well as light agro-industrial activities.
Solid and liquid waste management is a major challenge in the municipality. Solid waste management has been privatised; a private partner manages waste in the public areas whereas other municipal residents’ contract private waste handlers to dispose of solid waste or simply dispose of wastes in open spaces, riparian areas, and along roadsides.
Waste generation in the Municipality is expected to grow with population and economic growth and therefore if not managed it can lead to both environmental and health problems.
There are inadequate sewerage systems, therefore; wastewater management in the Municipality is a major challenge.
Population status
As per the 2019 Census, the Municipality of Ngong has a total population of 344,726 people; male population at 169,437 and the female population at 175,287.
Topography and environment
The main physical features of the Municipality are spread across an altitude of 1700m above sea level at Kiserian to 2,460m above sea level in Ngong’ Hills. This is characterised by plains, valleys and occasional volcanic hills. The hills afford a panoramic view of Nairobi City to the north, Nairobi National Park game reserve to the east and the Great Rift Valley, dropping over 4,000 feet below, to the west.
The region is rich in natural drainage channels that form rivers, and at times floods along the riparian areas as a result of storm water flowing from the Ngong’ hills. High elevations and steep slopes are found at Ngong’ especially at the Ngong’ Hills and therefore constraining infrastructural developments on the hills. It, however, favours sporting activities taken advantage by Kenyan athletes for practice.
There are also agricultural activities in the area. Kiserian is located on a low elevation area at the foot of Ngong’ Hills. As alluded to earlier, flash floods from Ngong’ hills and parts of Magadi Road flow in to impeding mobility and deters investment in the town. Ongata Rongai is situated on relatively flat land with an undulating slope, which is suitable for development particularly in real estate
24% of the Municipality of Ngong is covered in indigenous forests; Ngong’ hills, Kibiko and Oloolua The forests are, however, endangered due to encroachments by human settlements and Activities like farming and charcoal burning.
Local Economy.
The main economic sectors within the municipality include commerce, real estate, hospitality, transportation, and light industrial activities. However, agriculture and livestock remain a major sector of the local economy. These sectors are the main catalysts of the economic growth in the Municipality.
Education.
The Municipality of Ngong has 35 Public Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) facilities centres, 14 public primary schools and 16 public secondary schools.
There are 12 adult education centres and a few schools for the physically challenged persons like Kibiko School for the handicapped. Most public primary and secondary schools lack the necessary facilities and equipment for special needs education.
Cooperative Societies.
The cooperative movement is the bedrock of the Kenyan economy. It forms the basis for pooling resources together to pursue bigger objectives and to provide affordable loans to members to improve their businesses or lives. In Ngong’ Municipality, there are 35 active cooperatives operating in the transport, housing, agricultural, trade, financial and dairy sectors.
Road Network
73.43 per cent of roads are poor in quality while 22.01 per cent are fair quality. Only a mere 3.35 per cent of the roads are of good quality. 1.2 per cent of the roads are of very poor quality.
Of the roads in the Municipality 54 kilometres are tarmacked (bitumen), 65.43 kilo meters are gravel, 1.1 kilometres are paved with cabro and 4.07 kilometres paved with other materials.
Health
Municipality has 3 public health facilities – Ongata Rongai Health Centre, Ngong’ Health Centre and Ngong’ Sub-County Health Centre. and 45 private registered facilities. The facilities are inadequate especially in the southern parts of Keekonyokie and Olkeri. The deficiency has acted as a catalyst for the proliferation of private medical clinics in the area.
KAJIADO TRADE FAIR AND CONVENTION 2023.
To achieve its vision of a prosperous, globally competitive Municipality offering Quality life through sustainable development, the Ngong Municipality held the its first Investment Forum dubbed The Kajiado Trade Fair and Convention 2023.
The Kajiado Trade Fair and Convention 2023 was organized by Citam Business Forum a Ministry
within the Christ is the Answer Ministries (CITAM) – Ngong in conjunction with the Ngong
Municipality and the Investment Authority from 6th July to 9th July at the Ngong Stadium.
The theme of the trade fair; Faith and Community – Strengthening Partnerships for a better
Tomorrow was aimed at providing the Business Community, Partners and Investors a platform
to trade, network and showcase various development and investment opportunities within the
County of Kajiado.
The Trade Fair while providing a pivotal role in helping businesses meet other players of the
industry, adopted the four thematic areas of the Kajiado Governors Legacy Vision by highlighting
the development opportunities within the following thematic areas:
- Livable towns
- Modulated Pastoralism
- Climatic Proofed Environment
- Access to global Education
- Business Growth, Development & Opportunities
The trade fair attracted 200+ exhibitors and more than 5000 people visiting the exhibition booths;
it also had 100 stalls of different products and services set up in columns with different
companies, organizations and businesses ranging from works of arts, handicrafts, agriculture,
environment, industry, e-commerce, education, food and nutrition, energy amongst others
displaying their products.
The Fair also provided a display booth to the neighboring educational institutions to display their
science projects while also providing an opportunity to the school going children to visit the
exhibition booths and learn technical skills.
The food court booth which had a variety of sumptuous cuisine to choose from provided an
opportunity for the trade visitors and exhibitors to network and exchange ideas on business
development.
The Convention aspect held on Saturday afternoon imparted the exhibitors with business
knowledge through a conference session by Dr. Wale Akinyemi.
Dr. Wale who spoke on Business Thriving beyond the Now, is a renown motivational speaker, a
business strategy consultant and an author
The four-day fair was officially opened by His Excellency the Deputy Governor of Kajiado
County, Chief Officer Urban Development, Housing and Municipalities, Manager Ngong
Municipality, Investment Authority Secretary, Ngong and Oloolua Ward Mcas, Kajiado North
Sub county ACC 1 and Other Senior Government Officials.
The Municipality of Ngong displayed an array of Completed Projects and an information desk
that displayed and educated the visitors with services that it offers and the plans that the County
Government of Kajiado is putting in place to achieve a transformed and sustainable Kajiado.
The Ngong Municipality booth also provided a chance for the residents to air their views and
complaints on the County Government of Kajiado Development Agenda.
The mission of the trade fair – brand building, generation of business leads, nurturing of existing
business relationships, gaining new customers and assessing market trends was achieved as
explained by the Investment Director during the closing ceremony.
The first time event is expected to be an annual event.