Kenya's ruling party Jubilee now has full control of the capital
Nairobi after its candidate Mike Mbuvi Sonko won the race for governor.
Mr Sonko, who was the Nairobi senator, beat incumbent
Evans Kidero in the elections. The win for the ruling party means it
will now fully control the seat of central government, and the
industrial and commercial capital city.
The Jubilee
administration had established the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport
Authority, whose mandate will be to ease traffic jams in Nairobi and the
satellite towns. The authority, which will be under the central
government, seeks to perform some of the core functions of the Nairobi
County.
“The authority will be tasked with establishing
a mass transport system, commuter services and the public transport
within Nairobi metropolis,” former Transport Principal Secretary Irungu
Nyakera said.
In February, President Uhuru Kenyatta
accused Nairobi governor Evans Kidero of failing to work for the city
residents and frustrating his government’s efforts to improve the city’s
infrastructure.
“Kidero has failed Nairobi residents.
Jubilee has many qualified leaders to replace him. Governors control
enormous resources but Nairobi has little to show for it. You know the
Nairobi government you elected. What has it done? Tell me,” Mr Kenyatta
posed.
Polycarp Igathe
Mr Sonko’s
deputy governor-elect, Polycarp Igathe, a former chairman of the Kenya
Private Sector Alliance, will be keenly watched as he was touted to be
the ultimate chief executive of the city, as the governor plays a
political role.
The private sector players, who had
complained during Dr Kidero’s term of inefficiencies in doing business
within Nairobi, will now hope that they have a man who intimately
understands their concerns and will address them.
The
proposed Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill authored by outgoing
deputy Senate Speaker Kembi Gitura vouched for the creation of a
national capital city known as Nairobi, to be the seat of the national
government.
“The president will be empowered by law to
nominate a Cabinet Secretary, with the approval of the National
Assembly, to head the city. The CS will be in charge of the affairs of
the city and report to the president.”
Amend Constitution
In
December last year, the Jubilee administration proposed amending the
Constitution to have the capital city run like Kampala, which was taken
over by the central government six years ago.
The
proposed law would have effectively knocked out the current devolved
system, which has a Country Assembly. Instead, the city’s residents will
be represented in the National Assembly through their constituencies.
While defending the bill, Mr Gitura told The EastAfrican that the proposal was alive to the power of the people and their right to representation.
Outside
of the city, the Jubilee administration will also boast control of the
Council of Governors after its party won 25 seats in the county
leadership table out of the 47 seats.
The Opposition will take 18 counties, while two are in independent candidates’ hands.
It
is also interesting that out of the 47 governors during the first term,
only 22 are set to retain their seats after this year’s elections.
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