‘Kidero Road’ still intact despite removal order

It appears Governor Evans Kidero’s order for the removal of a road sign bearing his name is yet to be heeded.

Dr. Evans O. Kidero Road, connecting Lang’ata Road from Galleria Mall to Karen, was thus named in September this year by then Roads and Transport boss Evans Ondieki. The move attracted widespread condemnation especially on social media.

On October 3, Kidero distanced himself from the decision. “Road naming clearly isn’t a priority for Nairobi and it was done unfortunately without my knowledge or consent,” he explained. “I have subsequently instructed the concerned officials to pull it down with immediate effect.” When our team visited the area on November 11, we found the road sign still in place.

Mohammed Abdullahi, the current officer in charge of roads and transport, confirmed to The Nairobian that Kidero indeed gave orders for the sign’s removal. He however said he was not aware the sign had not been removed and promised to follow up the matter with his officers to find out why the governor’s orders were not carried out.

“Due process was not followed. Road naming is a process and you have to qualify the person being named. Someone doesn’t just wake up and decide to name a road after whomever he wishes,” Abdullahi said.

A few days after Ondieki named the road after Kidero, he insisted he had acted within the law and was planning to name more roads after city’s executive officers, local and international heroes. Ondieki was later moved from the powerful roads and transport docket to environment, though he insists the transfer was not occasioned by the road naming saga. “Claims that I failed are untrue because we made a lot of changes,” said Ondieki. By the time of going to press, the sign post was still intact.