Eyebrows have begun to arise within the Nairobi City County Government with questions if the Nairobi Deputy Governor Njoroge Muchiri has been undermining the leadership of his boss Governor Johnson Sakaja.
Last week, a section of the UDA minority side in the Nairobi County Assembly, allied to the Deputy Governor, staged a failed coup on the minority leadership, a move that has been seen as “going for the Governor’s allies” to undermine his leadership.
In the failed coup, minority leader Anthony ‘Bishop’ Kiragu (Withaka MCA) and minority whip Mark Mugambi of Umoja One were ousted and purportedly replaced with Waithera Chege (South B) and Joyce Muthoni (Nominated) before the move was thwarted.
Part of the UDA MCAs appended their signatures in support of the ouster of MCA Kiragu and MCA Mugambi from the leadership positions. However, it later emerged that the signatures had been forged by the Waithera-led team and a majority of the UDA MCAs were backing the Kiragu- Mugambi faction.
According to sources, the ouster was orchestrated by the Deputy Governor’s allies in a bid to clip the powers of Sakaja. Kiragu and Mugambi have been instrumental in marshaling support for the passage of bills introduced by the Sakaja administration.
Waithera has in the past been implicated in a bitter land tussle where the MCA attempted to repose a private parcel of land in South B claiming it was public land at the location where the former Makuti restaurant stood.
The Deputy Governor and his allies have also faced allegations of sabotaging the revenue collection department of the county government working with cartels in the planning department where developers are aided to evade paying the county government for their approvals of construction.
In moves seen as undermining the gains of devolution in Nairobi under Sakaja, reports that the Nairobi Deputy Governor’s personal assistant has been obstructing attempts by developers to set up businesses in the capital putting the county government’s upward trajectory in jeopardy.
An exclusive investigative report gave damning allegations that Daniel Gatembo, the personal assistant to Nairobi Deputy Governor Muchiri has been standing in the way of constructors who have attained the requisite county government authorization with demands of bribes.
Gatembo was accused by a number of contractors that he is obstructing genuine construction projects in Nairobi by demanding money for the construction to continue.
Just like Gatembo’s case, allegations surrounding the Nairobi County director of Markets Joyce Kyengo over reported abuse of office, ignoring court orders, and insubordination have also been raised.
In the course of investigations, serious allegations arose suggesting that Muchiri has been offering blanket protection to Joyce Kyengo. Numerous complaints from the public Kyengo’s conduct dotted our investigations. In the past, the media published a story about Kyengo, which was fiercely defended by DG Muchiri without running investigations and due diligence.
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