Nairobi has turned into a slum and nobody cares – Atwoli
Central Organization of Trade Unions secretary general Francis Atwoli has slammed the Nairobi County government for neglecting the capital city.
The Cotu boss decried how residents have been left at fate’s mercy as the city’s glory tumbles down the gutters.
Mr Atwoli cited proliferation of kiosks within the city centre, disorganized public transport and a lack of proper waste collection management system as some of the things that have turned Nairobi into a ‘slum’.
“I can assure you if I were a governor today you will not see a matatu in this city. There will be a very organized transport and it will be by law. Leave alone matatus, even these kiosks you will not see them. It will be a real city. Here you don’t have a city. You live in a slum and nobody cares,” he said.
BIG FOUR AGENDA
Mr Atwoli was addressing journalists in a press conference at his Solidarity Building offices after holding a closed-door meeting with Public Service CS Prof Margaret Kobia where he expressed Cotu’s support for the governments ‘Big Four Agenda’.
On the transport sector, he called on matatu owners to move with speed and adopt modern public transportation models before the government steps in to compete with them.
“They should be now introducing tram system. Even if matatus are not phased out under this government, somebody is coming who is going to phase them out because that is no longer an organized transport.
“They should move fast, sell those boxes and invest in a properly, well organized bus company. Import modern buses like Dar es Salam has done. They can leave matatus to those rural areas, not in a city like this,” he said.
SONKO UNDER CRITICISM
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has been under criticism from different quarters ever since he came to power seven months ago.
However, he has been maintaining that his government is doing its best to uplift the status of the city which is a key economic hub in East and Central Africa.
The county government is currently constructing new bus termini outside the CBD in a bid to decongest traffic by implementing a ban against matatus accessing the town centre.