President Uhuru takes charge of Nairobi projects
By Anthony Mwangi, August 11, 2020With a deputy reading from a different script and a rebellious governor, President Uhuru Kenyatta has finally decided to leave the boardroom and personally take charge of development projects in Nairobi county to ensure they are completed within set timelines.
In the last two weeks, the President has hit the ground running, traversing the city to have a first-hand grasp of the progress in the various development projects launched by the national and county governments.
The latest move comes in the wake of the President’s highly publicised fallout with Deputy President William Ruto and the court order barring Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko from stepping into his office, which has seen him cede major functions to the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), headed by Director-General Mohamed Badi.
Majority of the projects Uhuru has been inspecting are being implemented by the Badi administration.
The embattled governor has, however, put up a brave face, insisting that he is still the city boss despite the open show of desertion by the Presidency.
“I am still the Governor of Nairobi, all these functions that are transferred are still under me. That’s why you saw me launching projects in Mbagathi,” said a defiant Sonko.
Yesterday, Uhuru commissioned the construction of three new Level 3 hospitals in Nairobi’s informal settlements.
The President witnessed ground breaking for the construction of 16-bed capacity hospitals at Muthua in Uthiru and Kianda in Kibra as well as a 24-bed facility at Maendeleo Village in Mukuru kwa Reuben.
Three hospitals
The three hospitals are part of 20 such facilities earmarked for various parts of the city and are being developed by the Nairobi Metropolitan Service at an average cost of Sh70 million each.
Alongside the new health facilities, NMS is also fast-tracking the sinking of community boreholes to provide free clean drinking water and upgrading of access roads to bitumen standards.
Last week, the President conducted a night tour of Nairobi with General Badi and a few officials, inspecting projects within the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD), Kirinyaga Road, Michuki Park, Desai and Park Roads in Ngara and the Government Garage.
According to Prof Macharia Munene, a history and international relations lecturer at the United States International University (USIU), the tours are meant to show that the President is fully in charge of the government.
Nairobi is a key centre of power and the State cannot tolerate the likes of Governor Sonko to destroy it, he argues.
“There has been disquiet especially by people from Mt Kenya region that the President has not been working but by coming out the way he has done, he is giving people hope that all will be well,” Munene said
The sentiments are shared by Prof Peter Kagwanja, a political analyst and scholar, who feels that President Kenyatta is putting down his foot to see to it that Nairobi reclaims its glory.
“Nairobi is the capital of the world in East and Central Africa, it houses key United Nations facilities and cannot be allowed to go down with the likes of Sonko,” says Kagwanja.
For Nairobi to maintain its standing as the best in the region, it has put up good infrastructure, water, cleanness to keep up with the likes of New York, Geneva and Rome which house key UN facilities.
“President Uhuru has demonstrated that it’s no longer business or politics as usual. The standards set by Sonko were a joke.
The President cannot allow the city to be ruined under his watch, that is why he has personally taken charge,” Kagwanja added.
Addressing crowds yesterday, Uhuru said the projects he was launching are part of a grand plan to transform the outlook of the city especially its informal settlements.
He asked Kenyans to ignore disruptive and empty political rhetoric saying the government’s focus is to improve the living standards of Nairobi residents.
The President urged Kenyans to continue protecting themselves from coronavirus by following the established health protocols.
Maintain standing
In the various constituencies, the Head of State was received by respective MPs including John Kiarie (Dagoretti South), Imran Okoth (Kibra) and Julius Mawathe (Embakasi South).
The President was accompanied by Badi and Nairobi Regional Coordinator Kang’ethe Thuku among other senior government officials.
On Saturday night, Uhuru made surprise visits to Kilimani and Central police stations to assess the progress on the police digital Occurrence Book (OB).
The visits, an indication that the digital OB train was about to leave the station, follows several directives to the officers to embrace the new technology or risk being rendered irrelevant.
In the CBD, he inspected roads and non-motorised transport projects on Muindi Mbingu street while at Michuki Park, he checked the progress of the project ahead of its opening to the public on Friday. He is expected to preside over the event.
He drove himself in a saloon police car all through the exercise and had a lean security team. He stopped on Kirinyaga Road to address a pocket of people who noticed his presence.