Anti-Immigrant tag Still Troubling Nkedianye’s bid
Ahead of the 2017 elections,Dr Nkedianye was unable to shake off the tag of being ‘anti-immigrant’, due to punitive measures against small-time investors in the county.
A key area of concern was the allocation of market facilities in Kitengela where locals were favoured in a tussle that led to bloodshed.
The notable lack of developmental action plan in the towns of Kitengela, Ongata Rongai, Ngong’, Kiserian and Isinya also affected the governor’s performance.
Failure to deal with the sewerage systems and collection of garbage irked the business community who accused Dr Nkedianye of ignoring their plight.
“Traffic jams, flooding and heaps of garbage portrayed a leadership that had focused elsewhere,” John Kinyua, a businessman in Kitengela, said.
The county government during Nkedianye’s reign also rubbed investor communities the wrong way when they braked the sale of land in the county.
“The land mess in Kajiado has a political angle that can’t favour the governor,” Mr Simon Ole Kipury, a land merchant, told journalists.
To counter Dr Nkedianye’s sour relationship with traders, Mr Lenku who is the current governor presented himself as “a safe pair of hands”.
In the final analysis however it is immigrant communities, mostly the Kikuyus, who did it for Mr Lenku.
To date,Lenku still enjoys support from immigrant communities in the county and chances are high that he will be reelcted.
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