Badi's full in-tray after Kananu extends NMS tenure

With the term of NMS having been extended by six months, director-general Mohammed Badi has his work cut out to complete projects that were initiated by the agency.

Nairobi Governor Anne Kananu confirmed having extended by six months the tenure of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services to allow the agency to complete the projects it had started.

The ball is now in Badi's court to ensure that by August, NMS will have completed all projects.

"To address the speculations that are happening concerning the extension of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services. I want to put on record that I extended their contract for six months because I did not want them to leave their projects uncompleted. So, I have given them six months to ensure all the projects they started are completed,” she said.

This will be easier following the signing of a framework for the transfer of funds between City Hall and NMS. This means that for the next six months, NMS will directly receive funds from the Treasury without passing through the Nairobi County Revenue Account.

Pending projects will be full in-tray for Badi and his team for the next six months.

NMS is expected to commission 14 new hospitals which they have constructed and some renovated.

With a vision to have accessible and affordable healthcare in slums, President Uhuru Kenyatta had directed NMS to construct 24 hospitals where 19 facilities were to be built from scratch, while five would be rehabilitated. From the 19 to be built, 10 facilities will be Level 2 hospitals and the rest will be Level 3.

Badi revealed that through savings, they have built four extra hospitals in addition to the 24, bringing the total to 28.

Already 14 hospitals have been commissioned; The Kibera Level 3, Undugu, Ng'undu Kamulu, Ngomongo and Zimmerman were commissioned last September. Gichagi in Kangemi, Mukuru Kwa Rueben, Tassia Kwa Ndege and Our Lady of Nazareth in Mukuru Kwa Njenga were opened last July.

The Uthiru, Kiamaiko, Soweto-Kayole, Ushirika and Green Park hospitals were opened in February last year.

Ward projects

NMS is also undertaking the Ward Development Funds projects.

This comes at a time when MCAs are under pressure to complete the projects before elections in August.

In this financial year’s budget, MCAs allocated Sh1.5 billion for the WDF projects and created a WDF-specific account, Special Purpose Account, to hold the funds in order to expedite roll out of the projects.

Mukuru social housing

Mukuru was in August 2017 declared a Special Planning Area by the Nairobi City County government. The declaration put a stop to any further developments in the area for a two-year period until a Mukuru Integrated Development Plan is produced.

However, when the Nairobi Metropolitan Services was established,  Badi extended the SPA period for two years. The move was in line with Uhuru’s March 18, 2020, directive to Badi to undertake slum-upgrading initiatives in the capital.

Consequently, the Sh15 billion Mukuru Social Housing Project was approved by the Cabinet in September 2020. It was said that the government and private investors would jointly implement it.

The President said the project is part of his affordable housing programme under the Big Four agenda.

Revealing plans for the project, Badi had earlier said Mukuru residents will pay Sh4,000 for 15 years to own homes built under the government's social housing project.

He noted  that the scheme would benefit residents hence must be affordable to them. The project is yet to commence.

Parks

As part of strategy to decongest Uhuru and Central parks, NMS has identified 76.01 acres within the county to be converted to recreational spaces.

The six targeted spaces are located in estates in Embakasi East, Kasarani, Kamukunji, Westlands and Kibera subcounties.

In Embakasi East, NMS has marked 31.73 acre Jacaranda Grounds, which is located near Jacaranda estate, while in Kamukunji there are 7.27 acres available for recreational space. The two grounds have always been a favourite spot for political campaigns.

The Westlands Botanical Garden that sits on 10.21 acres and located near Mwani Road has also been identified as a possible recreational park.

There is also the Kasarani riparian reserve located next to EABL Company in Kasarani subcounty.

In Kibera, there are two parcels of land, 22.2 acres each, along the Southern Bypass, and 4.3 acres located between NHC Housing and Jonathan Ngeno estate that will be converted to recreational parks.

-Edited by SKanyara