Sakaja's tenure in City Hall comes under scrutiny as he fails to impress

Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja. [Elvis Ogin, Standard]

Is Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja  overwhelmed by the task of managing the capital city?

This is the big question that is now lingering in the minds of city residents following remarks by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Saturday.

Gachagua revealed that together with President William Ruto, they will roll up their sleeves to help in fixing the country’s capital city eliciting memories of the defunct  Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) that took over crucial functions from county government in 2021.

Under former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s watch, NMS managed health; transport; public works, utilities and ancillary services as well as public planning and development, almost reducing then governor Mike Sonko to a bystander.

And on Saturday, Gachagua said:  “Nairobi is the business centre of East and Central Africa. The President and I will ensure that city issues are in order.”

He added: “From now, you will be seeing us regularly. We are going to take keen interest in welfare and the development of this city.”

Gachagua made the remarks in Lang’ata sub-county while attending a fundraiser for women self-help groups.

Present in the meeting were elected MPs, MCAs from both Azimio coalition and Kenya Kwanza Alliance.

The event was organised by area MP Felix Odiwuor alias Jalang’o.

Gachagua said that Nairobi is an important hub to be ignored, underscoring need to bring back the glory of city in the sun and ensure quality services to city residents.

“We are going to do that not because we are voters here but because we are stakeholders here, our children were born in this city, they were raised here and our wealth is here in the city,” DP said.

“If things are going well in Nairobi then we are happy. If things are going south, then we will fix and nobody should worry or question why we have that interest,” he added.

The DP used the opportunity to laud some city MPs from the opposition among them Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris and Dagoretti South MP Beatrice Elachi.

Meanwhile, UDA members in attendance appealed to the national government to step in and save the situation in the city.

Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru took a swipe at Sakaja over plans to approve high-rise buildings that go up to 25 floors in some areas.

“Recently, I told the governor to be keen on his plans to approve high-rise buildings. I told him to first fix drainage and sewerage systems and enough piping and water,” he stated

“I appeal to you, Deputy President, that when the County government is making decisions, they should involve the national government and MPs and everyone,” Gathiru added.

Embakasi North MP James Gakuya who is battling for the UDA chairmanship in the city alongside Sakaja did not delve into politics.

This is not the first time Gachagua was raising concerns over management of the capital. In March, Gachagua revealed that Sakaja had reached out to him over leadership issues in Nairobi.

“I had a long conversation with Governor Sakaja and I told him the concerns with the leaders of Nairobi,” he said, while attending a church service at PCEA Gateway Thome in the company of the governor.

“I told him the concerns with the leaders of Nairobi and his electorate are not feeling part and parcel of his administration and the beauty is that he also conceded and he acknowledges that there is a disconnect,” he added.

Speaking at the same event, Sakaja insisted that some people are trying to portray that he and the Deputy President are rivals.

The latest remarks came barely a week after MPs and MCAs elected on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket expressed concern over developments in Nairobi.