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Kenya: No Mayor for Nairobi Yet As Candidates Tie in Poll
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Business Daily (Nairobi)
25 February 2008
Posted to the web 25 February 2008
Jim Onyango
As widely expected, mayoral elections in Nairobi ended with no decisive winner and with one candidate forcibly taking over the mayor's parlour.
The elections ended in disarray and no councillor was sworn in to take up the responsibilities of the mayor after two contestants tied in the first round of voting.
This means that the city is yet to get a new mayor to replace Dick Wathika, who is the new MP for Makadara.
The mayoral elections opened up a fresh political wound between the Party of National Unity (PNU) and the Orange Democratic Party (ODM), which had sponsored the candidates.
Going by numbers, however, the election seemed a walk in the park for the ODM candidate, Geoffrey Majiwa, and a long shot for PNU's John Njoroge. With the two candidates at 42 votes each, calls for sharing the office - one year for each candidate - were floated but soon drowned under the sea of mistrust.
PNU and ODM are currently immersed in mediation talks on how to share executive and state power following the disputed December presidential vote. The mediation effort is led by former UN chief Kofi Annan.
However, the Local Governnment Act has an archaic way of resolving a stalemate like that witnessed in City Hall yesterday.
"In the case of equality of votes for two or more candidates, the election shall be determined by lot between the candidates," states Section 14, (3) of the Act, which governs the election of mayors.
This is like throwing a toss or a dice to determine the winner. Confusion set in when the presiding officer, Helen Katangie, called the two candidates to the gamble vote. Only Councillor Majiwa turned up after Councillor Njoroge was whisked away to an undisclosed location by his supporters.
"In this situation, it's a tie. We are suggesting a power sharing deal to resolve this stalemate" said nominated councillor Paul Mutunga Mutingi. "The mayor of an important city like Nairobi cannot be elected by a toss of the coin, that's a gamble."
Although Ms Katangie went on to declare Majiwa "the mayor of Nairobi," town clerk John Gakuo declined to swear him, saying that the declaration was improper.
Gakuo, declined to swear in Majiwa after consulting with the council's legal officer, Mary Ng'ethe, who said the lot vote was not properly conducted. City council askaris shielded and whisked away the two City Hall officers.
Majiwa, accompanied by his supporters, claimed the mayor's parlour.
Westlands MP Fred Gumo visited City Hall later and said Majiwa was the duly elected mayor. "We all know what should happen when there is a tie. The PNU candidate boycotted the elections," Mr Gumo said. Councillor Majiwa had walked into Charter Hall, the venue of the elections, early in the morning exuding confidence.
On his side were 46 councillors while Njoroge had the support of 38 civic leaders. The day started with the swearing in of the 86 councillors.
In Kisumu, Mr Sam Okello, the new mayor, has set his sights on wooing investors in a bid to rebuild the town after it was plundered in election related violence last month.
Mr Okello said he would steer the council towards addressing physical facilities in the town that has been grappling with a poor road network, improper sewerage system and irregular garbage collection and disposal.
Lack of investors has left the council with low revenue collection in the face of a huge wage bill leading to delays in paying council workers and poor delivery of services.
Mr Okello said he would dwell on a masterplan for the town with a population of 1.5 million people.
Speaking after being sworn in, Mr Okello asked stakeholders to join hands to improve service delivery. Ms Pamela Omino was elected deputy mayor.
"The challenges that face the town are enormous, but through the cooperation of councillors, business community, government support, donors and residents, service delivery would improved and the city would reclaim its position in the league of great cities in both east Africa and the continent," said Mr Okello.
Some estates in the town still lack tapped water, thus giving way to vendors who sell the commodity at higher prices to the customers.
According to the Kisumu investors guide, the town serves a market of 30 million consumers around its catchment areas. That vast market, together with unemployment, is what is informing the investment drive.
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"High unemployment rates would be counter-productive as that would mean high crime rates," added Mr Okello.
In Mombasa, nominated councillor Ahmed Abubakar Mohdhar, who is allied to Kisauni MP, Ali Hassan Joho, beat Taufiq Balala.
Mr Abubakar takes over from Taib Ali Taib, who contested the Mvita Parliamentary seat and lost.
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