Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko [Photo/File]
Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko has penned down a letter that will change minds of most Nairobians.
Sonko outlines the failures of incumbent Evans Kidero and promises a Canaan in the city. The senator goes on to declare himself the ‘De Facto’ governor in the current Kidero rein.
Here’s the letter as quoted by The Star:
“I must remind the general public of the tireless efforts I made and have been making towards efficient public service delivery after the county government's failure to deliver the same.
Such instances include land grabbing, allocation of funds, legislation of county laws and corruption of county laws.
And this is what has given me the flare to vie for the governor's seat as I believe during my tenure as the senator have been like the 'DE FACTO Governor'.
Because all the complaints by the county residents have been brought to me for action and mainly issues regarding land grabbing which the incumbent (Evans Kidero) has never addressed.
Whilst I do not wish to play politics of slander and mudslinging, it is inescapable to say that the incumbent has totally failed the city residents in terms of service delivery.
When you look at the state of the roads, garbage and insecurity issues you wonder why the county government is always crying that the Treasury has failed to allocate funds while in reality the services they purport to deliver are not commensurate to the funds allocated to the county, which have been squandered by the officials.
As you will see from our manifesto, which we will be unveiling shortly, our agenda for this county is issue-based and will be anchored on good governance and transparency. I shall not entertain any form of corruption.
This biting issue of garbage collection is very critical to us simply because the incumbent has been using this service as a cash cow instead of rendering the service. If you look at the county the same constitutes 30 per cent of funds allocation.
Insecurity is as a consequence of lack of employment and juvenile delinquency and this issue cannot be addressed in isolation of unemployment problems, which our government will embark on seriously within our first 100 days in office as amplified our manifesto.
The incumbent has been talking of the county being owed Sh64 billion in terms of outstanding rates by government agencies and parastatals. They have simply been unable to recover these payments due to poor leadership and antagonistic approach to government agencies. We shall ensure cordial relationships with the said agencies and agree on a mode of how we shall recover this money without ‘’clamping” and adopting modes which would sever relations with the agencies.
With apt modes of such recovery, service delivery will be self-retaining without relying on the central Government for essential budgets.
The menace of harassment by CITY ASKARIS during our tenure as your Governor will be a thing of the past. While these services are critica, askaris must discharge such duties with civility, uphold the constitution and respect the rights of citizens. To curb this vice, we shall re-evaluate the structure of the directorate of the city inspectorate and equally engage the officers in training to enable them discharge their duties in a civilised manner.
The much talked about corruption in the county is aided and abetted by the very officials of this county in a bid to take short cuts in service delivery.
For instance, issues such as clearance certificates, extension of leases and other related services by the county government have been targets by serious corruption cartels who act in cahoots with county officials in a bid to eliminate cartels which constitute the larger one of land grabbers. I shall place extremely stringent measures to curb this vice in conjunction with other government agencies, noting that H.E. The President issued a decree suspending all illegal eviction, demolitions and illegal lease renewals.
I undertake to restore the cleanliness and glory of the city under the then status, which has totally eroded, and I shall occasionally be making spot checks to ensure this is achieved. This will also include employment opportunities for youths who will be given priority in terms of job opportunities to fulfill this task.
The drainage menace is very core in my agenda and I will hold discussions with the technical team to formulate a mode where this will be a thing of the past, taking into cognisance that this has been accessioned by cowboy contractors who conducted shoddy jobs.
The water issue, which has been biting the city residents is an issue which even the Jubilee administration is taking very seriously. They have embarked on a pilot scheme to create more dams to enable efficient service delivery. This is adequately addressed in my manifesto.
You will appreciate my choice of running mate reflects the corporate governance image that the residents of Nairobi would like to serve them and his CV in corporate leadership speaks for itself.
In order to ensure policy, development and political affairs of the county are run effectively and efficiently, I have brought on board a technocrat who will work alongside other county professionals to deliver on our mandate.
After weeks of wide consultations, the man who will deputise me at City Hall is Polycarp Igathe. Igathe is the former Kenya Association of Manufacturers chairman and serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Vivo (K). I wish to formally introduce him to you as my running mate.
Once again, I am humbled and God bless Nairobians
Sen. Mike Mbuvi Sonko.”