In the past few weeks, the all-pervasive hawkers, who had made walking around Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) a complete nightmare, have been removed. The difference is like night and day.

There is so much space to walk around its incredible. Even more importantly, customers can now have direct access to shops, whose owners pay billions to the Nairobi County government in licenses and levies. Previously, clients had to negotiate their way through wares sprawled across the doors of shops. Next should be those hawkers clogging up pedestrian crossings over highways across Nairobi.

The removal of business signage hanging dangerously over pedestrian walkways has brightened them. Further, the massive work of clearing garbage and washing streets in the CBD led by Governor Johnson Sakaja two weeks ago demonstrated that it is possible to mobilise and keep Nairobi clean. The CBD is now breathing.

Road repairs have started. Key arteries like Jogoo Road are being recarpeted, much to the relief of drivers and residents of the city. To give credit where it is due, Sakaja is now fully awake!

As always, Nairobi residents are asking the question – dare they hope the cleanliness campaign will be implemented to its logical conclusion, and then sustained?  Governor, the ball is in your court.

Wakulima Market remains an eyesore in the city, and a major source of congestion and dirt. The hawkers who spill over from Wakulima are still clogging up the road. They need to be removed.

Garbage remains a big challenge across Nairobi County. The county government has garbage trucks, bulldozers, and a ‘green army’ of 3,500 people. Let them move estate by estate until the entire city is cleaned up. They must pay particular attention to drainages, most of which are clogged with garbage, an eyesore, and stinking.

This “green army” and its officers have been asleep, leaving only their boss, the youthful Environment Chief Officer Geoffrey Mosiria almost a lone ranger trying to clean up Nairobi. Mr Governor, send out that army from its barracks every day. If they become organised and work like the cleanup two weeks ago, Nairobi will get a completely new face.

Nairobi residents can hardly wait for the governor to start bringing order to the matatu sector in the city. Matatus have gone completely rogue countrywide. But in Nairobi, they are a special kind of rogue. 

Loud music and blaring bullhorns must stop. Rowdy touts and crews must be brought to heel. The county government has allocated all street corners to matatus. How that will be managed, only God knows, but that remains the biggest challenge in this sector. Ensure they go back to the basics of wearing uniforms, clean matatus, no loud music. They carry passengers in complete darkness at night. What are they hiding?

The governor has reinstated free parking on Saturdays. This is a great move. He should also allow hawkers designated streets on Saturdays and Sundays to hawk their wares. This will draw a lot of residents into Nairobi over the weekend. The county government must do everything to stimulate business.

The impact of the governor allowing content creators free filming and photography on Saturdays and Sundays, especially in the CBD, has spawned a huge industry employing hundreds of young people. Since the governor is the one who took away the parking that was hosting the Maasai market, he should allow those traders designated places where they can ply their trade on Saturdays and Sundays.

Finally, there is one challenge that has completely defeated all Nairobi governors, including Sakaja – the messy drainage running from City Stadium along Muthurwa market. This two-kilometre drainage creates the dirtiest and smelliest ghetto of Nairobi. Raw sewage competes with garbage to fill that drainage every day. The stench is unbelievable!

Governor Sakaja, as long as this drainage remains in the most messy part of Nairobi, your dream of making Nairobi Africa’s cleanest city will remain just that – a pipe dream. There’s work to be done!

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