Why Governor Kidero will return to City Hall in August

Like many of the other governors, Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero will be be re-elected to office for another five-year term despite the bar talk that many of the governors will be voted out of office come August. The vast majority of the Kenyan electorate has no idea what the role of governors is, let alone being able to evaluate their performance after five years. In addition, those masquerading as the governors' replacements are no better. They all subscribe to the Kenyan culture of corruption, nepotism, insensitivity and disregard for the needs of the people. Quite a number of the sitting governors' challengers are former legislators riding on purported 'good' use of the Constituency Development Fund as reported by a private organisation. The organisation has no mandate or capacity to evaluate the thousands of projects spread throughout the 290 constituencies across the country. To do this, it would require hundreds of experts working throughout the year with a budget of several billions of shillings. I am ready to believe that these MPs simply bought their CDF performance positions just as many of them did their academic certificates. In any case, it is those with questionable academic credentials who were also reported as top CDF performers. Distributing Government funds has never been the key role of an MP; that is an 'extracurricular' activity. A person who cannot understand his role as an MP will not understand his job as a governor. Since the electorate has no idea of the official role of their MPs, they have been made to believe that distributing the CDF is one of them. In Nairobi, it is important to note that one of Dr Kidero's opponents, Peter Kenneth, is one of those aspirants riding on a CDF report card awarded by a body that should be investigated. The Kenya Taxpayers Association has not told Kenyans how they evaluate the use of CDF and decide on rankings. Since its inception, several parliamentary terms ago, the only report it has ever given the public is the performance of MPs on the use of CDF, which accounts for a mere 0.25 per cent of our taxes! What about a report on the rest of our taxes? In Kenya, winning elections depends entirely on clan and tribal arithmetic, the depth of pockets and ability to identify an aggrieved community and offer to solve their grievances. I do not see how this will favour Mr Kenneth or any one Jubilee fronts. It is not difficult to see that Kenneth, who has always been cold towards Jubilee, only changed his mind after Deputy President William Ruto's declaration that Jubilee must take Nairobi. This declaration made him believe that Jubilee would help its candidate win Nairobi under all circumstances and, therefore, he did not stand a chance with his lifeless KNC party. Kenneth is also banking on his 2013 social media fame. Then, through his logical but impractical posts, he interacted with and won the hearts of budding social media enthusiasts. This generally young lot had no idea that Kenneth once led Kenya Reinsurance Corporation; they only knew about CDF. How such a person can defeat the battle-hardened Kidero, a man who has weathered multiple storms against more powerful and ruthless opponents, is unthinkable. Kidero is one of the few leaders in Kenya the Nairobi business community believes understands the value of their investments hence will always protect them.

Why Governor Kidero will return to City Hall in August

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Why Governor Kidero will return to City Hall in August

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