Sakaja Responds After Being Ranked Worst Performing Governor
In response to an assessment by a local research firm, Insight Strategists Solutions (ISS) Africa, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja dismissed claims that he is the worst-performing county administrator.
In a statement released on Saturday, Sakaja criticized the ranking as illegitimate and unscientific, arguing that it ignored material facts on the ground.
He noted that the firm did not account for all of the factors that contribute to the performance of his county government, especially his accomplishments over the past year.
“I see such ratings and laugh. Nairobi has collected the highest revenue in 5 years and paid Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) Ksh7,640 per month, as of August 2022.
“We have also built the first Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the second renal unit, and the first-ever Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the county,” Sakaja explained.
The governor also noted that despite being in office for only one year, he has accomplished much for the people of Nairobi and expressed confidence that he will keep his promises.
“We have employed 2,500 Green Army, built 10 kitchens to feed 250,000 children, and some 88,000 children are on-boarded already.
“My administration has tarmacked roads, put up street lights, issued bursaries and scholarships worth Ksh1 billion in one year compared to Ksh3 billion in 10 years,” he added.
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The Governor of Nairobi questioned how Insight Strategists Solutions (ISS) Africa arrived at the classification, which he described as a strategic disinformation and misinformation campaign.
“Currently, bursaries are issued at every school term. We have increased ward-based projects to 23 million per ward from 17, building markets and restarted projects stalled for the last 6 years etc, etc. Who did the ranking and what were the metrics?” he posited.
In a scathing response to his critics, Sakaja noted that the commitment to making Nairobi a better place cannot be distracted by individuals he insisted are pursuing their political ambition in the guise of rankings.
He pledged to continue serving the citizens of Nairobi, noting that additional development initiatives are currently underway in all wards and estates.
“We reconstituted all hospital boards and employed CEOs for all Level 5 hospitals. We also paid KEMSA Ksh185 million that was owed in debt.
“My administration completed the stalled Dandora stadium and commenced works on City stadium, Woodley and Mwiki stadia. We have awarded Public Private Partnership (PPP) of Waste to Energy (45MW) at Dandora, and currently completing water projects to add 140 million liters per day,” Sakaja explained.
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In addition, the governor of Nairobi stated that he has secured Ksh16 billion in funding for Northern Collector 2 and Maragua 4 to provide an additional 220 million liters of water to residents of Nairobi.
“We have done all these in one year, and we are just beginning. High-sounding headlines are incongruent with what the ground is like. Obviously, not everything is done in 12 months, but it is working. This year will be a whole new level,” Sakaja promised.
The Nairobi County Governor also garnered support from improbable leaders, such as Robert Alai, ward representative for Azimio la Umoja, who noted that Sakaja has exceeded expectations.
“Sakaja came to office in the late 2022. In fact, the date of the official swearing-in is 25 August 2022. Nairobi City County Assembly members were sworn in on September 29, 2022.
“The governor has had his first budget in reading and passed July 2023. His budget is not more than 2 months old. Only one who does not understand would try to rank Sakaja based on the chaos of NMS and the old budget.
Alai assured that Sajaka will be ranked at what he termed the appropriate moment, noting that it is too early for those who want to be governor to consider campaigning against a new county administrator who has just begun his duties.
“I might not support Sakaja in 2027 but it’s too early to even think of attacking him. Too early to understand who you are going against unless we are campaigning for the sake of campaigning,” Alai stated.
