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Sakaja, who is eyeing the city gubernatorial seat on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, says he will divide Nairobi into boroughs just like New York City to further decentralize the county’s leadership.
“To bring services closer to the people, I will decentralize Nairobi’s management further. I will create four boroughs [East, West, North, and South] and appoint city managers for each to deal with the specific needs of every part of the city. Once Nairobi works Kenya works,” he told Capital FM on Wednesday.
New York City has five boroughs each represented by a president, who acts as a spokesman, advocate, and ceremonial leader of the region. The five borough presidents have budgets and appoint members of the advisory community boards in the city's various districts.
The Urban Areas and Cities Act, 2011 allows county governments to divide their regions and appoint City or Municipal Managers to be in charge of specific areas.
Further to this, Sakaja says he will ensure that all services offered in City Hall are devolved to the 17 Sub-county offices and online for ease of doing business.
“Nairobi will work if we step down accountability, take delivery one step lower, and ensure availability of resources,” he added.
Citing Rwanda as inspiration, Sakaja also says his administration will do away with slums and put up high-rise buildings as part of the efforts to improve the living standards of city residents.
“I don’t believe in slum upgrading because there is no better slum. I believe in slum eradication through the silo system, like what Kagame has done. We get the first phase of high rise buildings and move them, and where we have moved people we seal it so that no other mabatis come up,” he said.