My opponents are focused on getting jobs, not service delivery Kidero

Nairobi Governor Dr Evans Kidero has intimated that he is not shaken by the political alliances being formed by gubernatorial aspirants eyeing his seat in the next year’s General Election.

Kidero has exuded confidence that he will be re-elected to head the City County for a second term in the 2017 poll despite the onslaught by two political camps allied to the yet-to-be-launched Jubilee Party.

“The difference between us is that we are focused on service delivery, while they are focused on themselves, they are focused on getting jobs. I’m not worried about them, absolutely not,” said the Governor.

Speaking during an interview at his City Hall office in Nairobi, Kidero dismissed the alliances by politicians allied to the Jubilee Party; one led by Senator Gidion Mbuvi alias Mike Sonko, nominated MP Johnson Sakaja and his Dagoretti South counterpart Dennis Waweru and the other one led by Water Cabinet Secretary, Eugene Wamalwa, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru and Nairobi Woman Representative Rachel Shebesh.

“I cannot think of what I will be doing after the 2017 elections because I will still be here.”

Kidero was speaking Wednesday, a day after Sakaja, Waweru and Sonko announced the formation of a new alliance under the “Team Nairobi” tag.

The trio, however, seems to be targeting the alliance headed by CS Wamalwa, saying they are not ready to accept an imposed leader in the city given that the CS is widely believed to have the blessings of the Jubilee top honchos.

The Wamalwa-Wanjiru-Shebesh team has also vowed to work together to defeat Kidero, with the CS being fronted to become the gubernatorial candidate, Bishop Wanjiru as running mate and Shebesh as the Woman MP.

The Nairobi County boss has at the same time challenged political parties to conduct credible primaries as a way of ridding themselves of the party-hopping menace. This comes as Jubilee and opposition CORD top brass are pushing their MPs to pass a Bill preventing party hopping for aspirants who lose out in the party primaries.

Kidero has, however, dismissed claims by his critics that he has not done much for Nairobi residents since ascending to office in 2013, and enumerates some of his achievements as improvement of city street lighting, roads, schools and health centers.

He has faulted the national government for refusing to pay the county government Ksh 22 billion owed in rates and car parking fees and a further Ksh 56 billion proceeds from a parcel of land located in Embakasi, that he says the national government wrested from the county.