New metropolis team must restore sanity
By Editorial, March 19, 2020
The Wednesday signing of the agreement between the National government and the Nairobi City County marked the handover of delivery of key services to the metropolitan service body created by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
This would be a unique arrangement of shared responsibility between the two levels of government to resuscitate a devolved unit that was dangerously dangling on the tip of collapse, which could have dramatically affected service delivery in a city that hosts more than four million people.
The move was precipitated by a leadership crisis, mainly blamed on a governor who had failed to appoint a deputy despite advice by various stakeholders. The High Court decision barring Governor Mike Sonko from accessing his office created a leadership void, necessitating the President’s intervention.
It cannot be ignored that the problem with Nairobi is the question of leadership and the prevailing crisis should serve as a point of reflection on the basis of our solidarity with candidates during elections and as well as our values.
As the President pointed out, Nairobi is not just the capital of Kenya. It is much more. It is the diplomatic hub of the region which is the base of regional and international organisations. Nairobi is host to the only United Nations organisations’ headquarters outside the Western Hemisphere.
For Nairobi to continue in this path of being a diplomatic hub, the President stressed it is of paramount importance that citizens are provided with reliable, efficient and timely services.
The Nairobi Metropolis Services has been tasked to manage health, water, sanitation, garbage collection, transport and planning in cooperation with the county government.
We hope the team, led by Maj-Gen Mohammed Badi, appreciates the magnitude of the responsibility entrusted to them and the expectations that come with it. Uprooting the entrenched corrupt cartels at City Hall for will be no easy task.
In what has become a culture in public institutions, there is a possibility that Nairobians would be treated to ugly turf wars defeating the spirit of the agreement. Perpetrators should be warned that they will be named and shamed.
The team enjoys the goodwill of both the country’s top leadership and the people of Nairobi. It must not squander the opportunity to bring back sanity to City Hall.