Kileleshwa Member of County Assembly (MCA) Robert Alai has come out to praise Ida Odinga, the spouse of the late former Prime Minister, after her remarks on the messy situation bedevilling the city of Nairobi.

In a statement posted on his social media on Saturday, November 8, 2025, Alai commended Ida Odinga, who, during her engagement with Nairobi MCAs at Opoda Farm upon their visit to pay tribute to the late former prime minister, called for sanity in the city.

In what appeared to be a subtle jab at Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, she went ahead to state that Nairobi must be clean. Although she hesitated to go into deeper details, her remarks prompted the MCAs present to give her a standing ovation.

She further urged the MCAs not to protect evil, emphasising that the county is in a mess and requires the leaders responsible for addressing the issues bedevilling the city to rise to the occasion and solve them.

“We want to see a clean Nairobi; we want it to be clean. I will not say more, but we should not protect evil amongst us,” Ida stated.

Robert Alai welcomed Ida’s move in calling out the city leadership, stating that she has never tolerated mediocrity.

Alai went on to express his frustration at how Ida Odinga spoke out after the County Assembly majority leader had heaped praises on Governor Johnson Sakaja despite the messy situation.

“Mama Ida would never tolerate mediocrity. It’s sad that she spoke after the majority leader of the assembly heaped praise on Sakaja.” Alai said.

Silence by the senator

This comes a day after Lang’ata MP Jalang’o expressed his displeasure with Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna for maintaining silence when the city falls into disarray.

He stated that while Sifuna has done an excellent job as ODM Secretary General, he has failed the people of Nairobi.

According to Jalang’o, the senator, who is responsible for oversight in Nairobi, has ignored pressing issues such as garbage collection, water shortages, misuse of funds, and poor infrastructure.

“Sifuna has done a perfect job as ODM secretary general, but for the people of Nairobi, Sifuna is a letdown. Tell me, Nairobi, Nairobi itself, okay, the first person in the oversight space is the Senate of Nairobi. Everybody knows what is happening in this city,” Jalongo said.