Corridors of Power: City Hall staff happy to leave Sonko

Who will save Nairobi motorists from organised thugs who vandalise their cars when they fail to part with ‘protection fees’? Well, a gang with the audacity to wash cars in the heart of the CBD, including Harambee Avenue, is wreaking havoc in the capital. If you don’t pay them, your car is vandalised the next time you park in town. Their charge, a minimum of Sh50, is exclusive of the Sh200 parking fee to the county government. Victims say it is time Nairobi Metropolitan Service director-general Mohammed Badi and Governor Mike Sonko sprang into action to protect motorists. Some City Hall staff are part of the gang. You can pay the Sh200 parking fee directly to the gang and your car will not be clamped.

And on city affairs, are some Nairobi county workers celebrating the transfer of some functions to the national government? This seems to be the case after they received letters from the Public Service Commission. Some workers who were seconded to the newly created Nairobi Metropolitan Services were heard conversing and laughing heartily that their woes have come to an end.

Some private schools are taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis to fire employees and retain ill-gotten profits. Sources whisper to Corridors that the owners of the schools, mostly in Nakuru, have sent all employees—teaching and non-teaching—on compulsory leave. Teachers say with the interruption of learning just three weeks before the official closing date, parents had largely cleared fees. They want to know whether the schools' owners are willing to refund fees to parents, now that they are not paying salaries.

Has a second-term governor from a strategic county dropped his support for a lawmaker with aspirations to succeed him? A plot seems to be thickening in the bid to block the MP, going by the recent activities of a politician from the region. Word is that the politician, now a darling of leaders of a party he competed against, is being groomed for the county's top seat. Those in the know say the discussions may have been concluded after days of high-level negotiations. Could this be the reason for the fellow’s latest love for the cameras while undertaking his public activities? We'll keep you posted.