Kidero rejects proposal for Nairobi to be run by president
Nairobi county governor Dr Evans Kidero has rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to place the capital city under the leadership of the national government.
The Bill authored by Deputy Speaker Kembi Gitura seeks to establish Nairobi as the National Capital City, as opposed to the current case where it is the country’s capital city.
In the Bill, president shall be empowered to nominate a cabinet secretary with approval of the National Assembly, to head the City.
In his Jamhuri Day speech, Dr Kidero said the Bill will transform the county into a parastatal.
“Nairobians are concerned about the suggestion as put in the senate Bill to remove Nairobi as a county and make it a parastatal under central government,” said Dr Kidero.
UNDERMINE DEVOLUTION
He said the proposal will undermine the principle of devolution in the new constitution.
“We have given more bursaries more than the country has ever given since independence. We have lit up the city like never before. We have embarked on an aggressive campaign to restore order in the city. For the first time, a citizen living in a county feels more empowered,” said Dr Kidero.
He added that the county needs ward representatives who will influence the course of events at the county assembly through representation.
On the doctors’ strike the governor called for an expeditious negotiations on the dispute.
“With utmost humility, I plead with doctors of this country to show some compassion, to live up to their sacred oath, to remember life under the sun is fleeting, and in so doing call off the strike. Nothing can come before life. One must have life to negotiate and to give,” said Dr Kidero.
