Governor Sakaja: Five things I must improve in Nairobi

Nairobi City County Governor Johnson Sakaja Official address at the Nairobi City Assembly. [Samson Wire, Standard]

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has highlighted five areas he intends to work on in his five-year term in office.

He made the remarks during his first address to the County Assembly on Wednesday, October 19.

While addressing the Members of County Assembly in the capital on Wednesday, October 19, Sakaja said he was focused on mending the relationship between the County executive and assembly and introduce school feeding program.

He also wants to address waste management issues, market fires and disorder at the Central Business District (CBD).

"I commit, together with my executive, to wake up every single day, fully dedicated to the program outlined in our manifesto that seeks to create a city of Order and Dignity; Hope and Opportunity for all," Sakaja told the ward representatives.

He has promised the MCAs that he will put up a liaison office to act as a bridge between the executive and the assembly. The proposed office, he says, will partner with the liaison committee of the assembly to ensure a smooth working relationship.

"Through this organ, all requests from Honourable Members will be received, processed, and channelled to relevant officers, with solutions provided to address the issues. It will also play the role of facilitating all sectors to keep track of Bills passed by the House, and ensuring that they are implemented," he pledged.

The County boss has also urged the lawmakers to help him actualise the school feeding program, an issue he popularised during his campaigns.

The Governor has also asked the ward representatives to help him solve the waste management problem ailing the city. He said the project aims at collecting over 3, 000 tonnes of waste daily.

"In the last month in office, more than 80,000 tonnes of garbage have been collected from around Nairobi; an ongoing initiative. A lot of this is uncollected waste from the past," Sakaja has told the assembly.

To avert market fires, Sakaja has proposed the revamping of disaster management by construction of fire stations and water services next to the markets.

"We also intend to construct a fire station, service the boreholes and hydrants and ensure access throughout the market. We are keen on revamping our disaster response and management and will be coming to the assembly for support,"

Similarly, while attributing the fires to land grabbers, Sakaja wants to start a process of reclaiming grabbed public spaces

"We also intend to and have began a process of reclaiming grabbed public spaces across the county. We have already fenced the grabbed City Market land and will construct a market as soon as funds allow," he added.

To avert the disorder in various parts of the city's CBD, Sakaja says plans are under way to identify and set aside certain areas for hawkers and informal businesses.

"We are a pro-business administration and we intend to position Nairobi as Africa's economic and entrepreneurship hub. As part of the measures towards easing the cost and convenience of doing business, we have made progress towards creating a unified single business permit so that traders and SMEs do not have multiple licenses for them to trade," he added.