IEK OPENS ITS 29TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CONFERENCE ON "SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING IN THE ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE".

IEK OPENS ITS 29TH ANNUAL  INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION  CONFERENCE ON  "SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING IN THE ERA OF CLIMATE CHANGE".

By MAXIMILA WAFULA & PATRICK KIMANZI

Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Water , Sanitation and Irrigation Hon. Alice Wahome today  joined the policy makers , practitioners , academia and stakeholders drawn from the engineering industry in the local and international arena in the opening of the 29th IEK.

International Convention Conference in Diani Reef Beach hotel, kwale County .  She applauded the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) together with its 

collaborating partner, the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) for making it possible to bring together key players and thought leaders in areas of engineering and engineering affiliates to discuss, deliberate, critique and exchange knowledge around the convention theme of “Sustainable

Engineering in the Era of Climate Change”. 

The Kenya Kwanza Government Plan is to bring down the cost of living, eradicating hunger, creating jobs, expanding the tax base, improving our foreign exchange balance, and inclusive growth. She outlined out  the

government key priority areas which include ; Agriculture, to boost value chain through blending & branding and move from rain fed to irrigated 

agriculture; on Micro,  Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) economy, to 

establish MSME Business Development Centre in every Ward, and an industrial park and business incubation centre; on Housing and Settlement, 

to Increase supply of new housing to 250,000 per annum and percentage of affordable housing supply from 2% to 50% and to ensure progressive 

realization of the human right to water, sanitation and Irrigation and food 

security.

Healthcare perspective,  the government intends to integrate Information Communication and Technology systems to enhance telemedicine and health management information systems; and on Digital.

Superhighway and Creative Economy to construct 100,000km of national fibre optic connectivity network which will increase and fast-track broadband connectivity across the country . 

Further, the Cabinet Secretary Hon. Alice Wahome  emphasized that beyond the overdue, legitimate and priority concerns of resilience, mitigation, loss and damage, Africa 

offers unique potential to play an indispensable positive role in the planet’s 

climate future. Africa’s vast tracts of land, deep treasures of diverse natural resources, tremendous untapped renewable energy potential, and a 

youthful, dynamic and skilled workforce constitute the continents 

irresistible credentials. Opportunities abound in Africa, such as green 

energy, smart agriculture, de-carbonized manufacturing, e-mobility and 

green building, all aimed at the attainment of zero carbon by 2050.

The theme for this 29th IEK Annual International convention, 

“Sustainable Engineering in the Era of Climate Change,” speaks

directly into the bigger picture that His Excellency presented at COP27. Climate action is an ongoing process, not an event, and it requires 

extraordinary collaboration from a multi-disciplinary professional 

undertaking. Such  convention provides a critical opportunity for 

policymakers, industry experts, academicians, scientists, engineers, 

students, other professionals, business community and government 

leaders to double on their climate goals, forge new collaborations, and egenerate enough clean energy for the whole 

continent 

Engineering is a very  important and learned profession . Members of the profession recognize  their work that has a direct and vital impact on  the quality of life for all people, profession  engineers must perform under a standard of 

professional behavior which requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct on behalf of the public, clients, employers and the profession.

She was more concerned about events that led to unnecessary loss of life, 

more so, where such situations are under the specific control and order of appropriately trained, skilled and qualified personnel. The public outcry of collapsing infrastructure leading to an unnecessary loss of 

human lives need to be taken seriously by all the stakeholders, some of 

whom are gathered here today. Besides loss of lives, such unnecessary 

collapse of infrastructure impacts the economy and equally results in 

loss of investor confidence. 

She  urged  all players in infrastructure development, be the 

investors, county governments, private sector, contractors, or the general 

public to engage professionalism at all levels of the value chain. As the government commits to work closely with the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK)and the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK). Ministry will look into the matters raised by the engineering profession .

Enhancement of capacity building of engineering professional by providing a percentage of project costs to be applied for graduate Engineers internship, masters, and PhD of engineering in 

specialized and emerging fields like bio-medical engineering.

Sustainability in this era of climate change is our challenge and each one 

of us individually and collectively have a role to play in saving this planet  and the people. We owe the society a solution to these global problems 

for which you are entrusted with the relevant education, training, and 

qualification.

looking  forward to fruitful engagement in this Convention and it is my 

singular honor to declare this Convention officially opened.

Ends ......