The 10 nominees were approved by the county assembly on Thursday after a marathon vetting by the appointment committee on Tuesday.
The cumulative wealth of the CEC nominees is about Sh1.5 billion.
Political observers argue the nominees reflect the political reality of the city as they are drawn from various political shades in the country.
While Governor Sakaja has mostly favored former NMS top guns to ensure continuity and institutional memory, he has also included some fresh blood, who pundits consider green and would do a lot of learning on the job.
The committee led by speaker Ken Ngóndi retreated to consider the qualification of the 10 and write a report on Wednesday for discussion by the assembly.
For the differences, the nominees had one thing in common: All of them are millionaires and whose lives are considerably comfortable.
Stephen Mwangi, the nominee for the Lands docket was the first on the vetting seat, telling the panel his close to 40-year experience in the sector at City Hall would come in handy in leading the docket. Mwangi has worked at City Hall since 1985.
He said he had accumulated wealth of about Sh600 million, including a survey firm he runs. Mwangi said he had Sh12.5 million in his bank account and some Sh25,000 cash he carried in his pocket.
But he was at pains to explain the relevance of his competence and what new thing he would bring in to the docket, which he had not done or cause to happen in the decades he has been around.
He is the current chief officer in the docket and had served as deputy director in charge of Lands in the now-defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Service.
Rosemary Kariuki, the former director of membership at ODM, said she was worth Sh550 million in the assets she owns jointly with her husband. Her account had a cash balance of Sh400,000. The 29-year-old mother of two has been nominated to head the business and hustler opportunities docket.
Another ODM figure in the Sakaja cabinet is Mike Gumo, the scion of the veteran city politician and former Cabinet minister Fred Gumo. Mike said he was Sh50 million in worth and had Sh1.1 million cash in account.
He will man the youth and digital innovation docket.
Yet another ODM blood, Ibrahim Nyagaya Auma, who said he is still a PA to ODM boss Raila Odinga.
He said he is worth Sh98 million and has a cash balance of Sh1.5 million. He is nominated to serve as the CEC for Boroughs and Public Administration.
He said the flagship of his docket will be overseeing transition of City Hall’s aging workforce.
“The city has about 13,000 workforce but almost half of it are aged, meaning that in another five or 10 years, we will see mass exits that may not be replaced with commensurate speed,” Auma said.
He explained that he understood his docket as the fourth tier of devolution of county powers, the first being the village heads, followed by ward and then subcounty administrators.
Boroughs sit after the subcounty administrators, overseeing equitable distribution of resources and service in the county.
“Currently, there are some parts of the city that do not receive adequate service such as garbage collection. It is the vision of the governor to solve this to cascade the services to every part. I have the good fortune of having been close to the father of devolution in the country.”
Charles Kerich, the veteran journalist who had served the city as CEC since the reign of former Governor Mike Sonko, was also vetted for the Finance and Economic Planning docket, which he at some point held in acting capacity.
The 47-year-old said he was worth Sh120 million in assets and had Sh2.1 million in savings accounts and a cash balance of Sh105,000.
He was, however, put to task over his record in office, with MCAs claiming he did not give his principals sound advice and was a yes man. He denied the allegations.
Kerich was also asked about his attempt at running for MP in Bomet in the last elections on the UDA ticket.
Patrick Mbogo was interviewed for the Mobility and Public Works docket. He said he was worth Sh38 million in assets and Sh625,000 cash in account.
The 54-year-old father of three was working in the county and NMS at the time of his nomination. He was put to task over pending bills menace handed to the Sakaja administration, explaining that the NMS tendered for services and projects that were above its purse value.
NMS handed the county a pending bill worth Sh16 billion.
“The NMS was in the Office of the President and most of the its activities got budget from the national government and the county as well. But it went for projects that could be afforded by its budget, making the pending bills budge,” he said.
Maurine Agnes Njeri, who has been nominated for Water, Sanitation and Agriculture docket, said she was worth Sh70 million and had a cash of Sh300,000 in bank and Sh13,000 at hand.
Njeri had the roughest encounter with the committee, having to respond about her interaction with the assembly when she served at the NMS.
The committee put to her that out of 10 summonses to appear before it, she declined to attend any. They dismissed her as arrogant, domineering, a lone ranger and had refused to be oversighted hence could not be trusted.
The 42-year-old Njeri was serving as the director in charge of Water, Sanitation and Environment at NMS.
She, however, rejected the allegations, explaining that she operated under the leadership of the NMS boss Mohemmed Badi and that she did not receive authorization to interact with the assembly.
Health nominee Anastasia Nyalita, 56, said she has Sh136 million worth of assets and had about Sh100,000 in the bank. She was tasked about her record in the health sector, with complaints she would be focused on turning the health services from care centres to business ventures.
The pharmacist, however, said while she had worked in health business, she was keen to help Governor Sakaja transform healthcare provision in the county to be friendly and responsive to the needs of the people.
Talents, Skills and Care CEC nominee Brian Mulama, who is a former ANC youth winge,r told the committee he was worth Sh46 million in assets and that he had Sh3.2 million in his bank accounts.
He had tried his hand in politics, vying for MCA in Harambee in Makadara unsuccessfully.
The plank of his pitch was to ensures a reasonable allocation of bursaries administered by the MCAs and that it will be disbursed on time.
The born-again Christian said he was an evangelist who cared for sight orphaned children besides four who are his own.
The joint youngest of the lot was 29-year-old Suzzane Silantoi who said she was worth Sh36 million and had Sh900,000 in her bank account. She has been nominated to head the Inclusivity, Public Participation and Customer Service docket.
Edited by Eliud Kibii
