New city boss vetted, approved and sworn in – all in 6 hours

Deputy Governor Nairobi County Anne Kananu displays oath of office documents after being sworn in at KICC, Nairobi. [Samson Wire, Standard]

Anne Kananu Mwenda was yesterday sworn into office as the Nairobi County deputy governor, on a day punctuated by many firsts.

In about six hours, Kananu was quickly elevated from position of chief officer in charge of Disaster Management and Compliance to the city’s second in command by the afternoon, perhaps making her among the first holders of the position to be vetted and sworn into office on the same day.

Having scored her first victory at about 8am when the High Court dismissed two petitions seeking to block her vetting, Kananu strode into the County Assembly plenary chambers at 9am, ready to face the panel that would set the process in motion about 10 minutes later.

The process would last for about one hour until 10.10am. At 11am, the County Assembly convened a special sitting that saw the whole House adopt a report compiled in record time by the Vetting and Appointments committee recommending for the approval of Kananu as the deputy governor.

During debate on the report, only a handful of MCAs, mainly consisting of the house leadership from both sides of the political divide, were given a chance to speak before the mover of the motion – Majority Leader Abdi Guyo – was called to respond.

This was contrary to normal procedure where as many members as possible are slotted to contribute.

The vetting panel was chaired by Guyo, the vice chair, since his boss Benson Mutura could not take on the role as he is currently acting as governor, following the impeachment of Mike Sonko last month.

All this was not without the palpable anxiety from the ward legislators to dispense with the day’s business within the shortest time possible.

With just nine minutes to 2pm, Justice John Mativo swore in Kananu as the second deputy governor of Nairobi County at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).

As she took her oath of office, Kananu was flanked by Mutura, County Assembly majority and minority parties’ leadership as well a multitude of MCAs.

She then took to the stand with the promise of transforming the capital by working with the Mohammed Badi-led Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) and the County Assembly.

“I today affirm my commitment to serving the people of Nairobi with utmost dedication and equally commit to work with the director of NMS and his team to ensure the transferred functions are further strengthened and supported to ensure we meet the aspirations of Nairobians,” said Kananu.

Guyo defended the hasty swearing in of the deputy governor, saying no law had been broken in doing so.

“We did not flout any law in quickly swearing in Kananu. If that was the case then you would not have seen Judge Mativo at the ceremony. We did everything in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and other sections of the law,” he said.

Guyo said yesterday’s events were the culmination of a series of meetings held by the Vetting and Appointments Committee, which had planned everything to the letter.

“The meetings have been ongoing since last week so we were ready to swear in Kananu. We thought that the courts would block us but they did not,” he said.

No by-election

Kananu’s ascent to office also appears to confirm sentiments of some Jubilee leaders who had said there was a little likelihood of a by-election in the city.

In an earlier interview with the Saturday Standard, nominated MP Maina Kamanda intimated there would be no by-election in Nairobi because it would not be prudent to spend money on such an exercise at this time.

At least nine candidates had shown interest in the seat and submitted their papers to IEBC for the race slated for February 18.

Kananu’s utterances during her swearing in ceremony were premised on her earlier sentiments during the morning grilling exercise, where she praised efforts of the NMS so far, following the deed of transfer agreement.

She even vowed to create a liaison committee between City Hall and the NMS to foster a better working relationship.

“The term of NMS ends in February 2022 but should it lapse before they accomplish everything that they have set out to do then there is a need to extend their tenure,” said Kananu.

“To the people of Nairobi, I promise to provide services. I believe in teamwork and servant leadership and I will work with the NMS to make sure whatever plans they have put in place are accomplished.”

Kananu (pictured) was however concerned that Nairobi County faces myriad challenges, key among them poor leadership that has led to a public outcry. This she partly attributed to lack of clearly defined roles of the office of deputy governors who are then left to the mercy of the governors.

She made it her duty to lobby for the issuance of more roles to deputy county bosses.

“The role of the deputy governor is vague in the Constitution because it is just prescribed that they are advisers to the governor. I will engage in consultations with the Council of Governors, MCAs and other institutions so that we channel our synergies towards lobbying for clearer roles for deputy governors,” said Kananu.

On dealing with cartels at City Hall, Kananu said it would only be possible by providing efficient and sufficient service delivery.

“If the approval of a permit or licence takes six months whereas it should take one month, then that is where cartels emerge in order to be able to help fast track the approval. But if we are able to address this we will eradicate the cartels,” she said.

Kananu further pledged to cure the garbage menace by identifying an alternative county dumpsite and introducing legislation compelling landlords to come up with select places where their tenants will be dumping their waste before it is collected by garbage trucks.

She distanced herself from Sonko, asserting that theirs was purely a work relationship.

“My relationship with the governor was purely work based. The disaster management docket involves a lot of consultations and I can confirm that the relationship between us was work based,” she said.

The deputy governor said the audio and video clips that have been circulating online to the contrary were only meant to embarrass her.

“I can confirm that the purpose of the video by Sonko was to show the public that the governor had withdrawn my name as a nominee for the DG position and sent me a letter to that effect. He however sent me a blank letter without a signature and which was not valid,” she said.

During the special sitting, MCAs termed Kananu as the silver bullet that would kill the by-election clamour in Nairobi. They argued that a mini-poll would lead to the county “haemorrhaging” billions of shillings, which could be put to better use.

“We have no time for a by-election in Nairobi. With are just a year and a few months to the General Election. We cannot afford one. Those calling for an election should wait for 2022 to contest,” said Guyo.

“By the stroke of the pen and Sonko appointing Kananu, he saved the county Sh2 billion that would have been gobbled up by the mini-poll.”

Minority Leader Michael Ogada said the County Assembly had relied on investigative agencies to obtain information on Kananu and consequently cleared her for the top office.

Nominated MCA Emily Oduor hailed Kananu for her servant leadership.