My administration has no financial capacity to maintain roads – Sakaja on state of Nairobi roads

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has distanced himself from the ongoing mess on major roads in the county. 

Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, the county chief who has come under severe criticism for the city’s terrible road conditions, placed the blame on the county and national governments.

He mentioned that despite growing concerns over the increasing potholes on major roads, he does not have the authority or financial resources to fix them because the majority of the roads are managed by the Kenya Urban highways Authority (KURA) or the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA). 

In particular, the governor said his administration did not have the funds to maintain major roads such us Jogoo Road and Arwings Kodhek, which have lately been the face of the mess.

“There is a division of functions between national government and county governments revenues and roads are classified; when you go online, you will see national, county roads and international roads such as Uhuru Highway and Jogoo Road, which is an international trank road classified as A and so the work is under national government.

“There’s been a big issue with the roads. I have seen many photos of cars flying off Jogoo Road saying Sakaja the dimples are on the roads instead of your face and I understand. I don’t have the resources for Jogoo Road for Argwings Kodhek, those are national roads,” Sakaja said.

The governor also faulted Members of Parliament (MPs) for the poor state of the roads saying they benefit from the Road Maintenance Levy but the funds are never used to their repair roads. 

“That money is not given to counties so I don’t have the monies for road maintenance, the money is given to the national government through the MPs. When you give an MP money for those roads through CDF, no one is going to do Jogoo Road because many constituencies touch it.

“I don’t blame them. Because of that we are making a case as CoG so that roads that connect sub-counties, the money goes to counties to maintain those roads,” Sakaja said.

He, however, reaffirmed his commitment to restoring the city’s lost glory and revealed that he had reached out to President William Ruto for financial assistance, a move which he says has helped generated Ksh5 billion to build and repair damaged roads.

“I reached out to the President and the President understood and said let’s come together. I am grateful to the President, we’ve gotten around 5 billion to sort out the CBD roads.”