Nairobi Governor Kidero closes City Hall ‘rooms’ operated by cartels

Nairobi Governor Dr. Evans Kidero has closed down two rooms at City Hall that were allegedly being used by cartels to carry out their operations.

The Governor said Room 10 and Room 500 at City Hall have been used by a cartel to extort money from unsuspecting individuals saying he has resolved to close them down to halt the illegal operations.

“There are people at the city hall who are collecting Ksh 50 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.

Kidero said he, like any other political leader, is surrounded by cartels who have impeded the execution of his mandate.

“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.”

“Political leaders like myself are also surrounded by cartels within our ranks. I have resorted to crashing out the illegal syndicates and their operations at City Hall.”

He pointed out that his move to reshuffle the Cabinet was informed by the desire to rid off the cartels at City Hall who have hampered development projects and crippled service delivery.

Kidero has also pointed that his government has engineered visible changes in Nairobi County including the reduction of crime rates in Nairobi.

Speaking at the House of Bread Deliverance Church International on Sunday, Kidero said his government has improved security in Nairobi noting the crime rate currently stands at 2 to 4 per day compared to 50 to 56 crimes per day in 2013.

The Governor urged Nairobi residents to appreciate the gains realized through the county government and support its efforts to make Nairobi a better place to live, work and invest in.

“Great things are happening and will continue happening, It may not be as fast as it should, but good things are happening in Nairobi City County,” stated Kidero.

Kidero’s pronouncement comes days after Kibra MP Ken Okoth attributed the ceaseless issues surrounding garbage disposal in Nairobi to operations by cartels at the county government.

In an interview with Citizen Digital, Okoth further stated that the cartels have hijacked major operations in the county including the facilitation of water supply to residents of Nairobi.

“The distribution of water in Nairobi, for instance, is an issue not just unique to residents of Kibra but the entire county. Cartels have taken over the operations and are denying the residents water with the intention of selling it to them at a higher rate,” he said.

“Garbage collection has also been inconsistent because there are cartels at the Dandora dump site who want kickbacks before allowing garbage disposal at the site.”

He said that if the government has chosen to use the National Youth Services (NYS) to solve the garbage situation in Kibra, it should ensure it is done to keep the constituency clean.

@benjaminwafula