NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 15 – The Nairobi County Assembly is set to reconvene at 11am on Friday to approve the nomination of Ann Kananu as Deputy Governor after the assembly’s appointment committee vetted her in emailer in the day.
The vetting session which hardly lasted an hour followed a resolution by the Assembly mandating the panel to vet the nominee after determining she faced no legal hurdle in court.
Kananu’s expedited vetting is the latest in efforts to forestall a by-election in Nairobi tentatively set for February 18, but which has been stayed by the court pending the outcome of related suits.
She was nominated in January 2020 by then Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko who was later impeached in December 2020. Kanunu was not however vetted after a court suspended proceeding to consider the nomination pending the determination of a suit challenging Sonko’s decision.
Following the impeachment of Sonko in December 2020, Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura assumed office as Acting Governor with the law requiring the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to hold an election within sixty days.
Kananu’s anticipated ascension to governorship has been a subject on public debate, with a section of lawyers terming the campaign to install her as governor subsequent to her approval as Deputy Governor a breach of the law and Article 182 (5).
While appearing before the County Assembly select committee on appointments, Mwenda said a seamless working relationship between the two entities will ensure efficient service delivery to Nairobi residents.
“I will give the Nairobi Metropolitan Services the necessary support in order to ensure seamless flow of services,” she said.
Mwenda being the current County Disaster Management and Coordination Chief Officer, said she is conversant with the needs of Nairobi residents noting that she has been able to traverse across all Nairobi estates.
She committed to treating all county staff fairly, adding that she will never intimidate county employees like her former boss.
Mwenda also told the committee that she supports the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report proposal to have Nairobi retain its status as a county upon the lapse of the NMS tenure, so that Nairobi residents can fully participate in devolution.