Nairobi News

Your campaign slogan in 2013 was “Better City for Better Life.” To what extent have you achieved this?

The Better City for Better Life was more than a slogan; it was a guiding principle and a scorecard that all Nairobians can judge us by.

In your inauguration speech you promised Nairobians a staff that is well remunerated and motivated to provide better services to Nairobians. Would you say you have achieved this promise?

The County Government inherited 17,000 employees – 6,000 from national government and 11,000 from defunct city council. Kidero and Mueke could not have achieved all that we have in the last four years without the capable teams in the county.

We have a well remunerated and motivated team that keeps this city moving. In fact we just signed a CBA two week ago.

The success, safety and cleanliness of this city rests on their shoulders and it’s a job they do, very diligently.

In your assessment as the city’s Governor in the last four years, how close are you to achieving your pledges?

In the last four years, we have successfully transformed Nairobi from a Kanjo city to one of the best cities to live and work in.

Nairobi is the highest reforming city in the world according to the World Bank ‘Ease of Doing Business Index’ having moved from position 151 in 2013 to position 92 in 2016. JLL City Momentum Index ranked Nairobi as one of the top 10 cities in the world.

In the hospitality industry, we have the 4th highest bed count in Africa having grown with 45 per cent. Nairobi was ranked the most Intelligent City in Africa, and 10th in the world by the Intelligence Community Forum.

Nairobi, has been ranked the most attractive destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa and a regional financial services hub. Nairobi leads Africa’s top 20 cities as the place with the highest spending growth rate in the entertainment scene and just days ago, Nairobi City scooped position 10 among the top 20 African cities in terms of economic activity, consumer size and connectivity.
The city has successfully positioned itself as a hyper-connected hub, both within East Africa and across the continent. This gives the city an outsized influence despite having a smaller GDP than many other African cities.

That is the city that we envisioned in 2013 and I can confirm that Nairobi is on a solid foundation and ready for take-off.

Among seven of your pledges you made to Nairobians was a better city, where the residents enjoy better health, better water and better sanitation. Some four years later, what kind of a report do you have for Nairobians who entrusted you with the leadership of their city?

We have increased water and sewer connections to city households from 13,000 to over 44,000 since 2013 with a total of over 4,000 of these in informal settlements.

We have also increased water supply to the city by 100,000 cm3 per day. Nairobi now has 45 automated water dispensers installed in 2015 in Mashimoni village, Mathare while 16 water ATMs have been launched Kahawa Soweto.

We have also drilled bore holes in Highrise, Gatina, Kangemi, Kairos, Nairobi West, Mukuru kwa Reuben, Hospital and Mugumoini wards to ensure uninterrupted supply of water in the area and bought 500 water tanks which were distributed to women and youths in all 85 wards of the county.

By June 2017 we will have connected 10,000 households in informal settlements of Kayole, Soweto, Matopeni, Spring Valley, Embakasi, Riverbank, Mowlem, Maili Saba, Canaan, among others with sewer connections.

Employment of additional health workers increased from 3,089 in the year 2013 to 3,695 by 2017. The city administration has also constructed a new 120-bed maternity wing at Mbagathi Hospital.

Read the full interview here.

SOURCE: Daily Nation