Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero ‘talked the walk’ and annoyed voters

Now that is Palm Sunday, how about we start our Sunday Ride a bit spiritually by walking the talk like Jesus did to take to save humanity.

After all, Christians worldwide will today commemorate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem by re-enacting his move.

Jesus Christ, knowing fully well that this trip would end in his sacrificial death for the sins of humanity, made the bold move of walking to Jerusalem, a city that he would not walk or ride to.

But while Jesus may not have had many options those many years ago, modernity has reduced walking to a mere inconvenience when there are traffic jams.

Emulate Jesus

When Nairobi City County Governor Evans Kidero recently attempted to emulate Jesus and walked to a business meeting in Westlands, he was rudely reminded by the people he is supposed to save from traffic that indeed he is the one who should address the rot and the sorry state of infrastructure in the city.

While Kidero’s team may have regarded it as an ingenious way to popularise the grand plan improvised by the county government of working closely with the Ministry of Transport, but residents reminded him that they go through what he went through everyday. And just like that, the otherwise superb move fell flat on its face.

Coupled by the fact that it is his duty to get us out of the jam so speak, Kidero found himself in the deep end under the when he tried to empathise with the ordinary citizen.

But this is not just a Nairobi problem. Last year, the Uasin Gishu  Governor Jackson Mandago brought business to a standstill on the  trunk road that joins Kenya and Uganda at Malaba because he wanted to know why the place of road construction was too slow pce.

Energy-sapping bottlenecks

Those of us who have had the misfortune of being on Uganda Road can bear testimony that it can be pretty frustrating to have heavy commercial vehicles driving through the Central Business District at such a slow speed so much so that you can never be sure whether the drivers are on a go-slow or the trucks are overloaded.

Either way, it is a headache for the county authorities. Even Mombasa has not been spared.

Plight of voters

Governor Hassan Joho has had to make all sorts of declarations, some by the road side, to address the stifling gridlock, especially the energy sapping bottleneck that builds up around Kwa Jomvu as you approach Mombasa Island.

As more people get cars, county governments with major urban centres will be hard pressed to address the plight of voters who do not drive.

If they do not do so, traffic congestion and bad roads could easily become an election issue.

Twitter: @tonyngare