NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 15 – Nairobi Deputy Governor nominee Ann Kananu has pledged to form a liaison committee between City Hall and the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) to ensure a good working relationship between the two entities, if the Assembly approves her appointment.
While appearing before the County Assembly select committee on appointments on Friday, 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.
She further pledged to follow the law while executing her mandate vowing to undertake public participation in every decision made by the county.
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.
Kananu is banking on the Assembly’s approval to become the Governor subsequent to her installation as Deputy Governor.
Her approval will see her become Nairobi’s second Deputy Governor after Polycarp Igathe who resigned in January 2018.
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 as Deputy Governor and thereafter Governor a breach of the law and Article 182 (5).