Why Nairobi was rated worst in service delivery

Nairobi County was ranked worst in performance in a poll that rated service delivery in the three cities.

Dissatisfied residents cited open sewers, heaps of garbage and poor roads, which saw Nairobi rated at 44 per cent, behind Kisumu and Mombasa, according to a survey by Trade and Insights For Africa (TIFA).

Those interviewed felt Governor Mike Sonko’s administration had not improved their welfare in the last four months.

The findings were based on thematic areas such as street lighting, clean water, Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE), environmental cleanliness, county health, trade, environment, youth polytechnics, market centres, bursaries, feeder roads and sewerage systems as service delivery indicators.

In its report launched yesterday in Nairobi, TIFA research company placed Kisumu as the best performing county among the three cities, with a scorecard of 56 per cent (C+), followed by Mombasa at 53 per cent (C) and lastly Nairobi with 44 per cent (D+).

The poll conducted between May 1 and May 4 saw 1,500 residents interviewed. Respondents were interviewed face-to-face and on the telephone.

Poor sewerage systems, which were rated at 31 per cent, were cited as the main challenge facing Nairobi, compared to Kisumu and Mombasa, which rated at 44 per cent and 43 per cent respectively.

“Nairobi residents were dissatisfied with the sewerage system because a majority of the sewer lines were blocked, lacked proper planning or maintenance and were polluted,” TIFA Chief Executive Officer Maggie Ireri said in the report.

Poor state of the roads in Nairobi (34 per cent) were the second biggest challenge. Kisumu was rated at 47 per cent and Mombasa 53 per cent.

Lack of environmental cleanliness also saw Nairobi at 35 per cent, third behind Kisumu (59 per cent ) and Mombasa (42 per cent).

Yesterday, Sonko dismissed the findings saying they were not credible. He noted that a similar poll had indicated that he could not be elected governor in last year’s elections. “I proved them wrong and I will do it again,” the governor said.

Interestingly, Nairobi had outdone Mombasa in the provision of clean water despite the ongoing water rationing attributed to low water levels at Ndakaini dam, which is the county’s main supplier.

Access to health services in Nairobi, however, remained low compared to the other two counties.

In terms of having a favourable trade environment, Mombasa topped at 60 per cent, followed by Kisumu (56 per cent) and Nairobi trailing with 48 per cent.

In street lighting, Mombasa was rated 67 per cent, Kisumu (65 per cent) and Nairobi (62 per cent).

Kisumu and Mombasa seemed to be at par on the state of youth polytechnics, with each scoring 56 per cent. Nairobi scored 50 per cent.

Market centres in Kisumu were better maintained compared to Mombasa and Nairobi, which were grappling with garbage, lack of toilets, congestion and poor drainage.

On food security, Nairobi was at 27 per cent compared to 26 per cent in Kisumu and 22 per cent in Mombasa.