Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja
Some members of the Nairobi County Assembly have raised the alarm over the poor quality of the county services and stalled development projects, noting frustrations in their efforts to hold the county governor to account.
Led by Deputy Minority Leader Waithera Chege and Kileleshwa’s Robert Alai, the MCAs had a press conference in Nairobi on Thursday where they accused Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja of incompetence.
The ward representatives said public transport in the city is chaotic, and that several pieces of public land have been grabbed by the private developers under the watch of the governor.
They have also said that the city has been neglected due to poor drainage, garbage collection, and lack of enforcement of the planning regulations.
“The city has turned into a situation where those expected to serve city residents are cutting deals. If you go to many of the buildings being constructed, there are no approvals. We have held regular meetings with the governor to fix all these and he promises he will work on it the following day but nothing is happening,” Mr Alai said.
Kileleshwa Ward Representative Robert Alai.
The MCAs also complained that a number of development projects have stalled due to the lack of goodwill from the governor. The bigger proportion of these projects, the MCAs said, are in healthcare.
According to the Auditor-General’s report for the financial year ended June 30, 2023, Nairobi County leads with stalled projects worth Sh1.36 billion. Most of the stalled projects in Nairobi are hospitals, according to the report.
“Review of construction projects undertaken by the County Executive of Nairobi City revealed projects costing Sh1.36 billion in respect of construction of various hospitals had stalled,” the report states.
The report, which the MCAs cited, also reveals that one contractor was engaged to construct three health facilities for Sh869 million, but all the projects stalled.
The projects included the construction and equipping of Pumwani Lucky Summer Dispensary, Pumwani Majengo Health Centre and Gumba/Mabatini Dispensary.
“Physical inspection of these projects carried out on September 28 and 29, 2023 revealed they were not complete and labelled, the perimeter wall was not done for Pumwani Majengo Health Centre, and the Lucky Summer Dispensary had barely started and the building is dilapidated,” states the report.
Despite the failure to complete the projects, the same contractor was also awarded another contract for construction works at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital phase II at a contract sum of Sh344.1 million. The project also stalled after the payment of Sh165 million.
A number of suppliers who provided services to the county government are also yet to be paid.
Revenue collection issue
The ward representatives also took issue with the manner in which the collection of revenue in the county government has been happening.
“We are told that the revenue is being collected at Riverside. No one knows the person collecting the revenue. The governor has resorted to public relations through the Dishi na County programme, which he has blocked the MCAs from carrying out oversight,” Mr Alai said.
Ms Chege said county officials who were involved in the transfer of public land to a private developer will be held responsible. They also claimed that the same developer is currently developing a mall in Kileleshwa using the loan he secured using the title deed for public land.
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“We have all the documents and we have noticed that somewhere along the way, some county officials were involved in changing the contract agreement between the county and the developer Jabavu Village Limited.
"How did the contract change from 99 percent for the county and one percent for the developer to 80 percent for the developer and 20 percent for the county? That tells you that there are people who are cutting deals to steal public resources,” Ms Chege said.
The MCAs also accused assembly speaker Kennedy Ng’ondi of blocking efforts to oversight the county executive. They claimed a number of statements the ward representatives have raised before the assembly are always referred to committees where they are not dealt with.
“We have raised several statements but unfortunately the county assembly speaker does not want MCAs to debate on the issue. You are always silenced before the plenary using standing orders. Is this the way we should operate,” Mr Alai posed.
Mr Ng’ondi however refuted the accusations insisting that the MCAs complaining do not understand their mandate.
“Those claiming that the assembly has been held captive are those who do not understand the role of the speaker and their role of oversight,” he told Nation.Africa.
Mr Sakaja was not immediately available for comment regarding the accusations by the MCAs as phone calls and text messages to his known phone number remained unanswered.
The ward representatives further called upon President William Ruto and Raila Odinga to rein in on Mr Sakaja to fix the issues affecting residents.
