Bishop Margaret Wanjiru vows no breathing space for Kidero, declares herself Nairobi shadow governor

TNA secretary General Onyango Oloo presents a TNA certificate to Former Starehe MP Margaret Wanjiru (left), at the TNA head quarters after defecting from CORD in Nairobi.[PHOTO: GOVEDI ASUTSA]

NAIROBI: Bishop Margaret Wanjiru who officially defected to President Uhuru Kenyatta's party, the National Alliance has declared herself the "new Shadow Governor of Nairobi" and vowed to take on Governor Evans Kidero for what she termed as leadership failure.

In a colourful ceremony at TNA Headquarters in Nairobi Wednesday, the former Senatorial Candidate for the Orange Democratic Movement was received by TNA party officials and vowed to push Kidero to deliver to Nairobians or force him out of office.

"Today as enter TNA, I have come with a very clear vision and mindset, knowing that Nairobi urgently needs a deliverer. I am the leader that will deliver this county from its current crisis," she said in her acceptance speech.

She said that her vision of serving as Nairobi Governor is still very much alive and would not sit back and see the county being run down by Dr Kidero.

"Now that I am officially the shadow Governor of Nairobi, I will not give Kidero breathing space. He cannot continue eating big salaries and doing nothing for Nairobi county which is in a crisis," she threatened.

"The current Governor of Nairobi does not understand the problems of the County. He is busy conducting developing projects as far away as Nyanza and has forgotten where he was elected to serve," she added.

However , key TNA personalities in Nairobi were absent in the ceremony including Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko, Women Representative Rachel Shebesh and Nairobi MPs elected in the TNA ticket.

Wanjiru accused Kidero of being a "big failure" and disappointment to many Nairobians who are still not seeing services being delivered to them almost two years after being elected in office.

“The roads are impassable, street children are back and traffic jams are endless. The county is extremely dirty with non-functioning sewerage, potholes are allover while trees and flowers are slowly disappearing," she said.

Wanjiru accused her former party ODM of cutting short her vision to be Governor of Nairobi two years ago after the party alleged bungled the party nominations because what she termed as lies and malice from ODM leadership.

TNA Secretary General Onyango Oloo said TNA is where Wanjiru truly belonged and promised that party nominations are free and fair, in an apparent jibe at the rival ODM where Wanjiru lost the Nomination for Governors allegedly due to rigging and foul play.

"We are looking forward to attract more influential politicians from our opponents and we will soon be unveiling them. We want to strengthen TNA ahead of the 2017 General elections," he said.

Wanjiru said that she stands for a clean Nairobi environment without garbage, free of tribalism and religious discrimination. She said that she wants to eliminate traffic jams and ensure zero tolerance to corruption.