Stop blaming cartels, MCA tells Kidero

City Hall, Nairobi, in this photo taken on September 14, 2015. A Nairobi County Assembly member has told off Governor Evans Kidero over his claims there are cartels at City Hall.PHOTO | GERALD ANDERSON | NATION MEDIA GROUP

A Nairobi County Assembly member has told off Governor Evans Kidero over his claims there are cartels at City Hall.

Speaking to journalists, Minority Whip and California Member of County Assembly (MCA) Hashim Kamau said the governor had publicly admitted to have failed and was now blaming cartels.

“The governor has failed to bring sanity in the city for the last three years and is now looking for something to blame like cartels as we near elections,” said Mr Hashim.

Mr Hashim accused Dr Kidero of tribalism, claiming he was sacking members of a certain community in the name of cartels and giving the jobs to another community.

Mr Hashim said the closure of Room 10 and Room 500, which are finance offices, was about targeting a particular ethnic group.

Dr Kidero on Monday closed down two rooms at City Hall that were allegedly being used by cartels to carry out their operations.

ILLEGAL OPERATIONS

The governor said the two finance offices at City Hall have been used by a cartel to extort money from unsuspecting individuals, saying he had resolved to close them down to halt the illegal operations.

“There are people at the City Hall who are collecting Sh50 million every month for garbage collection yet they are not seeing the job through. Cartels have also invaded the lands docket and are being involved in land grabbing and fraudulent transactions,” said Dr Kidero.

Dr Kidero said his government was surrounded by cartels who had impeded the execution of his mandate to make Nairobi a better city.

“Cartels have been in existence since the time of former President Jomo Kenyatta. His predecessors Daniel Moi, Mwai Kibaki, and the current President Uhuru Kenyatta and Cord leader Raila Odinga have cartels surrounding them,” He said in a press statement.

The governor said the move to reshuffle his Cabinet was informed by the desire to rid of the cartels at City Hall who have hampered development projects and crippled service delivery.