Uhuru is keen on rebuilding Nairobi
What you need to know:
- Those who live in the slums deserve better and General Badi made this clear.
There is an old adage, “If you want something done right, do it yourself”.
Since an Executive Order placed the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) under the Executive Office of the President, Nairobi has begun to see changes.
In the first 100 days since NMS Director General, Major General Mohammed Badi took charge, 100 boreholes each with a pump have been sunk to ensure 24-hour delivery of water to people in the informal settlements. Several roads within the city’s Central Business District have been repaired and some parking spaces along Kenyatta Avenue and Muindi Mbingu streets converted into pedestrian walkways.
The NMS has also initiated slum upgrading projects in Mukuru Kwa Njenga.
What’s more, quite a few ambitious development projects are underway, including the construction of 24 fully functional hospitals around the capital.
President Kenyatta has been closely watching Gen Badi perform his duties. On several occasions, he has inspected development projects in the city at night. He wants to ensure that the projects are completed on schedule.
This demonstrates that for President Kenyatta, rebuilding Nairobi, after years of neglect, has become a personal goal.
Being the capital city, Nairobi almost ten per cent of Kenya’s population live here. The informal settlements have particularly been neglected in the past. Those who live in the slums deserve better and General Badi made this clear.
“I will first start with that mwananchi who is suffering by bringing change in all informal settlements in Nairobi to make sure life changes there so that they can feel like the rest of the residents,” Badi said.
Nairobi is getting the President’s personal attention and its residents can already see the change. There have been more development projects initiated in the last couple of months.
Furthermore, he is demonstrating to governors and other officials around the country how to govern. A good leader follows the progress of all development projects.
What is happening in Nairobi should be an example for the rest of the country.
Mr Kwinga is a political scientist. [email protected]
