Act on Nairobi rot, groups tell Governor Sonko

Two Nairobi lobby groups have expressed their disappointment with the state of affairs in the city following a story published on Monday in the Nation touching on the garbage crisis.

The Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) and the Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations (Kara) criticised the state of service delivery in the city, calling on Governor Mike Sonko to shape up.

Cofek Secretary-General Stephen Mutoro questioned why Kenyans should pay rates and taxes to institutions that promise better services but deliver nothing.

“Even in failed governments, you do not get such things even in the streets of Mogadishu.

COMPENSATION

“People who are getting sick for being exposed to undignified environment should seek for compensation and it is something we are thinking about,” said Mr Mutoro.

The Cofek boss said the situation had left ‘egg on the face’ of President Uhuru Kenyatta who has been spearheading the regeneration of Nairobi.

“In a developed world, a headline like this in a leading newspaper would lead to public outrage, requiring the governor to resign,” he said.

Mr Mutoro called on Nairobi residents to talk to their leaders to show cause why the governor should not be impeached for being unable to do his job.

On his part, Kara boss Henry Ochieng called on the county government to right its priorities.

SERVICE DELIVERY

“There is disappointment and disillusionment as far as service delivery is concerned. The truth of the matter is that most people are feeling that they are not getting the kind of services they expect,” said Mr Ochieng.

He said Nairobi needs to come up with a framework on how to deal with solid waste. “Nairobi is grappling with garbage issues because of lack of a framework on how to deal with the issue. We need to start talking about implementation of existing laws,” he added.

But Nairobi County Environment minister Larry Wambua termed the Nation story “a political attack on Governor Mike Sonko”, saying that the county had made huge strides in garbage collection.

NO FACTS

“Nobody is happy when Nairobi is dirty and we have done a lot in the short time we have been in office,” said Mr Wambua on phone.

City Hall’s deputy director of communications, Mr Elkana Jacob, dismissed the story as “a cooked up story with no facts”.

“Our county operatives are on the ground working and providing services to the people as the governor had promised,” said Mr Jacob.