Sakaja to Address City Assembly as Calls for Unity Intensify

By Erick Ludeya

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja will make his inaugural county assembly address on Tuesday the 18^th of this month.

The Governor is expected to call for unity of purpose considering that the County Assembly has the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party as the majority party with the Kenya Kwanza Coalition on which he was elected being the minority party.

Newly elected Deputy Speaker Paul Kados, who is also the Mihango ward MCA, told the Sunday Express that the assembly has officially invited the Governor to make his first address.

“ We have invited him to address us and tell us how he plans to lead the county and how well we can harmonise our working conditions so that we can serve Nairobi without much trouble,’ Kados said

Officials at the Governor’s office confirmed that they are aware of the invite and the governor has no problems with it.

Sakaja will be the second governor to address the assembly after Dr.Evans Kidero who did it once. Former Governors Mike Sonko and Ann Kananu failed to address the assembly during their tenure.

Sakaja has already held separate meetings with both sets of MCAs where he called for unity of purpose among elected leaders in Nairobi.

His address will come immediately after the MCAs induction event that kicks off on Monday 10^th.

He is also expected to have named his cabinet before addressing the assembly.

Mr. Kados has called on him to name a professional cabinet that meets the requirements of chapter six of the constitution.

“We do not want a cabinet like the one we had during the last regime but one that is ready to serve the people with professionalism,” Kados said

Kados blamed the governor for being too slow in setting up his government yet the county is facing financial challenges that need to be addressed.

“ There is little we can do now as a county because the budget that we passed only allows us to withdraw on vote of account yet the governor is too slow,”

Meanwhile the Mihango MCA who is the long serving legislator at the assembly said he does not expect power battles to dominate the current regime.He has called on Azimio and Kenya Kwanza MCAs to put their differences aside and work together.

“We are the majority and the governor has a minority in the assembly but I think we have come of age and the best option is to work for the people,” he said.

At the same time, talks among contestants for the majority seat in the assembly are ongoing with reports indicating that Makongeni MCA Peter Imwatok and South C’s Khaliff Abbas held talks on Friday at a City Hotel.

The rivalry between the two has threatened to split Azimio MCAs in the assembly.

The MCAs met ODM party leader Raila Odinga on Thursday where they were asked to talk and agree on the way forward.

It is the opinion of Kados that the seat be given to an experienced leader who understands the constitution and the politics of City Hall very well.

“ If approached for advice, I would recommend that the seat be given to someone who knows his work,someone with experience and one who understands the constitution,”