Kenya Kwanza governor candidate Johnson Sakaja and deputy governor nominee Njoroge Muchiri will Thursday unveil their manifesto.
Sakaja said the manifesto, City of Order and Dignity, is for the people who need proper services.
In his manifesto, Sakaja has pledged to construct 20 new markets across Nairobi to promote traders and decongest the main city markets, Gikomba and Wakulima, to provide an easy environment for doing business.
Gikomba, which is East Africa’s largest open-air market, has been prone to perennial fires which have cost traders loss of property worth millions, pushing some to unemployment.
Other markets are Toi and Kangemi.
If elected, Sakaja said he will divide Nairobi into five boroughs to decentralise the county’s leadership.
Each of the five namely East, Central, West, North and South will be headed by city managers whom he will appoint.
“The city managers will deal with the specific needs of every part of the city. Once Nairobi works, Kenya works,” he said.
The Urban Areas and Cities Act, 2011 allows county governments to partition their areas and appoint city or municipal managers to be in charge of specific areas.
Sakaja has pledged to introduce a single QR-enabled permit which they said will prevent the need of having multiple licences and subsequently eliminate the hurdles of doing business.
The business permits are city council business permits, fire inspection certificates, food handler certificates, food hygiene, goodwill, and land rates for those who own land within the Nairobi jurisdiction
These business permits and licences are renewed yearly by members of the public and the business community.
The Senator pledged to implement a school feeding programme for all public primary schools.
Sakaja said he was saddened by the number of children who cannot afford a square meal at home, which affects their concentration and ability to learn.
“If you go to businesses, you will find a big board with licences, that will end, we are going to break it down to one license,” he added.
Sakaja and Njoroge have promised to initiate Sh50 million biashara fund per year to each of the 85 wards to facilitate small businesses.
“Nairobi's budget is more than Sh35 billion every year and it cannot be impossible to allocate some of this money to promote small traders in the spirit of the UDA bottom-up philosophy,” he said
If elected, Sakaja promised to deliver clean and safe water to all households.
The city population now stands at about 4.3 million people according to the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
The high population has exerted pressure on the existing physical facilities such as housing, road network, sewerage lines and water supply infrastructure.
Nairobi’s main water source Ndakaini Dam can only supply a capacity of 525,000 cubic metres a day against a demand of 850,000 cubic meters leaving a shortfall of 325,000 cubic metres a day.
This has subjected residents to water rationing in most parts of the city.
To address the transport system, he promised to provide efficient mobility that is affordable, reliable and orderly.
For Nairobi to fully develop, Sakaja said the city needs a proper Mass Transit System because a city with good infrastructure attracts business and has fewer problems.
“If there is a reliable transit system, there will be less need to use personal cars,” he said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
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