Majority of city residents want Kananu sworn in as governor

Nairobi residents are anxiously waiting for the decision by a three-judge bench that is set to determine petitions against Nairobi Deputy Governor Ann Kananu.

However,a survey conducted by The Times indicates that at least seven out of ten city residents interviewed want the Deputy Governor sworn in as the governor.

Majority of the residents said that the move will be a big win for women and that it will help foster a good working relationship between the county government and the Nairobi Metropolitan Service.

There are some who opined that there is no need of conducting a by-election in Nairobi with 17 months to go before the next general election.

“ I actually thought that she is already the governor but I believe that she should be made one at least before this term ends,” said James Gitau who runs a shoe shine business in the city Centre.

Mrs Margaret Otieno who sells fruits at the Wakulima market said that Ann should be sworn in because she has shown that she is accessible and can make a good woman leader.

***A section of the local media has already runs headlines of the possibility of Kananu taking over as the substantive governor***

“Yes, why not? We must support women and it is her time to shine.We had some issues here and when we sort help from the governor’s office, we were helped but I can’t really tell whether she was involved or not,”

Douglas Gishu,a university student at St.Pauls University said that Ann’s leadership will spare the city a lot of politicking at the expense of service delivery. “We understand that the majority of the functions were transferred and this means that whoever is at the helm at the county must be someone who supports the NMS and for the last two months, she has shown that she is not interested in power battles but service delivery,” he said.

However, some of the residents argued that Nairobi voters must be given a chance to elect whoever they want.

“The people must be the one to decide and not the courts as we are seeing now in Nairobi,” said Philip Adagala who works as a sales executive.

There are those who said that the county can still run with the current status quo where Kananu is the deputy governor but working closely with the NMS. “I don’t see the need of her being the governor or even going to elections to elect another one. What matters is that she is already in charge at City Hall and we can already see what she is doing with the NMS,” Jemimah Nkeriba said.

Hopes of Kananu being sworn in were boosted last week when the Court of Appeal dismissed an application for injunction filed by former Governor Mike Sonko seeking orders to restrain her swearing in as the Deputy Governor.