World Bank quits Nairobi traffic marshalls deal

Politics and policy

A traffic marshall and a police officer control vehicles along Uhuru Highway. World Bank has pulled out of a deal to fund the employment of 1,000 traffic marshalls in Nairobi, leaving City Hall to meet an additional wage bill of Sh400 million. Photo/FILE 

By KIARIE NJOROGE

In Summary

• Thursday, the World Bank said the split with City Hall was amicable and there was no politics involved.
• The traffic marshalls replaced police in manning city streets, especially in the Central Business District, getting a boost from cameras mounted on specific road junctions.
• Nairobi has 11,000 workers and will spend Sh13.7 billion in wages against expected revenues of Sh26.3 billion in the fiscal year starting July.

The World Bank has pulled out of a deal to fund the employment of 1,000 traffic marshalls in Nairobi, leaving City Hall to meet an additional wage bill of Sh400 million.

 

City Hall’s Budget committee says the World Bank dropped the plan following political pressure, adding that Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko and the police expressed reservations about deployment of the officers in the streets.

This forced Nairobi to revise its budget last week to accommodate the marshalls’ salaries, which were not included in the spending estimates released by Evans Kidero-led government in May.

This is set to add pressure to the City Hall’s wage bill as Nairobi struggles to rein in salaries to free up cash for spending on items like health services, roads and water.

“As members may be aware there has been an ongoing recruitment of traffic marshalls with the process having gone up to an advanced stage,” said a report of the Budget Committee.

“The Budget committee was informed that the idea was supposed to be funded by the World Bank which has since pulled out. Despite the uncertainty on how the officers would be remunerated given the World Bank move, there were no budget provisions. The committee has ensured amounts are set aside for their salaries.”

Thursday, the World Bank said the split with City Hall was amicable and there was no politics involved. “The Nairobi County Government decided to use its own resources on this activity,” said the World Bank in an e-mail response.

“The World Bank will finance improvement of traffic signalling and management system in Nairobi including construction of a traffic control centre.”

But County Executive for Finance, Gregory Mwakanongo, Thursday contradicted the World Bank, arguing that the lender pulled out because City Hall was not ready. He declined to give details.

The traffic marshalls replaced police in manning city streets, especially in the Central Business District, getting a boost from cameras mounted on specific road junctions.
Sonko opposed the deployment, saying that marshalls lacked the experience to handle Nairobi’s traffic.

His comments came when the senator and Nairobi governor Evans Kidero openly differed over the management of City Hall finances. In February, police also denied allegations that officers were causing massive gridlocks in the city to sabotage the planned introduction of traffic guides to replace them.

Nairobi has 11,000 workers and will spend Sh13.7 billion in wages against expected revenues of Sh26.3 billion in the fiscal year starting July.

Consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers had in 2012 recommended a restructuring that would reduce the number to about 7,000.

The traffic marshalls are expected to earn between Sh25,000 and Sh30,000 per month. The county government is now pushing to have its fresh recruits trained at the National Youth Service.