The delay in realising lofty campaign promises by Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja seems to be eroding residents' patience.
Saying he's working on them doesn't make them real.
Residents want want school feeding programmes, reorganising the city into five boroughs, working universal healthcare, efficient city mobility and sound garbage management.
These pledges remain stuck in meetings.
Critics say that five months since assuming office, the governor and his deputy Njoroge Muchiri have been shuttling between white-collar meetings, public functions, social media and TV interviews for national audiences as patience for their impact dwindles.
What's the explanation? The governor's phone was switched off when the Star sought answers. His communications director was also not able to obtain the information
"He is working hard in eroding public confidence in him. You cannot just be about TV and social media but people don't feel any impact. The traffic lights are still not working, traffic jams are intact, garbage piles are intact and yet you are just about talk," Brian Machogu, a leadership lecturer, said.
Pundits and city citizens argue Sakaja was taking too long in rolling out his campaign promises, with some saying he was working hard to earn the title of a performative governor, all talk and little action.
The governor rode to power on the plank of making the city work. He emphasised the promises during his inaugural address to the city assembly when he opened it on October 19, 2022.
Sakaja said he would establish a school feeding programme to ensure children in public schools got nutritious meals to keep them healthy and in school.
He said he would build a central Food for Kids kitchen from which the meals would be distributed to the schools throughout the city for lunches.
“It is embarrassing that there are more children out of school per capita in Nairobi due to poverty and hunger than in drought-ravaged counties,” Sakaja told the assembly.
He added, “We are thus rolling out a programme to construct central kitchens in every subcounty where food will be cooked and distributed to nearby schools,” he said.
To signify how serious his plan was, he told the MCAs the programme was already working in Dagoretti South constituency at Mukarara Primary School and urged them go see it for themselves.
Months down the line, not much is known about the programme.
On August 27, days after he was sworn into office, the governor promised to clear garbage in “a few days".
He gave the promise on social media after he toured various parts of the city with his officers, saying had “given firm directions on resolving the current garbage problem across Nairobi in the next few days".
While some progress is discernible in certain parts of the city, garbage piles are still an eye sore in places like ‘N’ market, Kangemi areas, Pipeline areas, various parts of Kayole among other areas.
Njoki Mathira, a trader at Uthiru market and who is popularly known in the area as Mama Njoki, told the Star though she is a staunch Sakaja supporter, her patience is running out.
“Sakaja ni wa ma TV. Kazi yake sijaona. Lakini wacha tumpe time (Sakaja is mostly on television and I’m yet to see his work, but let's give him time),” she said.
His promise on reorganising the city into five boroughs has also remained vaporous, with no information on what became of it or what is being done to make it happen.
It was billed as a way of devolving administrative services from City Hall to the Nairobi residents and achieving equality in access to the services, especially in the slum areas.
But the City Hall remained unavailable for comment about the discontent as the governor's phone was switched off when we called about the status of all the pledges.
Pundits argue the governor has succeeded in thawing political squabbling by working closely with the Azimio-controlled county assembly.
He has also denied oxygen to the attacking forces who have been critical of his style of leadership.
"Sakaja has done well by working with Azimio, both in the assembly and in his cabinet. He must be commended for avoiding partisanship even when the urge has been coming from the top of his political formation," Geoffrey Mbura, a political analyst, said.
His posture as a non-extremist political figure has been his asset because he remains trustworthy across the political spectrum, he added.
