Campaigns take a tribal angle in city that needs less talk and more action

By BILLY MUIRURI bmuiruri@ke.nationmedia.com  ( email the author)

Posted  Monday, January 14  2013 at  20:16

In Summary

• Problems facing the middle class are transport, cost of utilities and services while those in low-income estates are troubled more by how they will have a meal, educate and access healthcare

Security, jobs, space to do business, garbage collection, smooth roads, provision of water and an effective public transport system. Whoever will solve just half of these problems will surely make Nairobi a better city to live in.

These are the issues that matter to the people of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city.

They are not new. Over the years, political office aspirants have thrived on giving hope that these problems would be solved once and for all.

Most of the gubernatorial aspirants paint a picture of the cliché “city in the sun” that blooms in fresh flower gardens along both sides of smooth-flowing traffic.

Others envisage a city where provision of services is not seen as a favour but a right for all tax payers.

Political players may have changed over the years, but the issues remain the same.

In fact, there is no evidence that those who gain political power in Nairobi are those who offer the most innovative or creative solutions to the city’sproblems.

Evidently, Nairobi politics is largely influenced by the protagonistic nature of national politics.

In 1992, it was the Kenneth Matiba fire against former President Moi that caught the city, while in 2002, it was the anti-Moi forces that ruled the city.

In 2007, Nairobi was a house divided between Kikuyu and Luo, cemented by the near-fanatical rivalry between President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Post-independence acrimony

Mr Kibaki won the poll with 350,000 votes against Mr Odinga’s 310,000 votes — a result that the then Electoral Commission chairman Samuel Kivuitu hinted he was not sure of.