City Hall building, the City Council of Nairobi headquarter. /Monica Mwangi
We’ll smash cartels, aid small traders, says PK running mate
Nairobi governor hopeful Peter Kenneth’s running mate Linet Mirehani yesterday said they will stamp out cartels if they win in August.
Mirehani. a former Kilimani councillor, said cartels have greatly hurt the county.
“The money lost to cartels in Nairobi is so much and we are going to reverse the situation. We will change the face of City Hall,” she told the Star in an interview.
Among areas ruled by cartels are revenue collection from small businesses and parking fees collection. That money does not go into city coffers.
Mirehani said if the cartels are eliminated, revenue collection will double.
“Nairobi is a rich county, which controls about 45 per cent of the country’s GDP. If Nairobi is well-managed this can be pushed to 70 or 80 per cent,” she said.
Mirehani said they will ensure all revenue collection is fully automated to enable the county to keep records of how businesspeople pay their fees.
She accused Governor Evans Kidero’s administration of mismanaging county resources. “It is quite unfortunate that the current administration does not care about the people. The only thing they care about is how to make money for themselves at the expense of the people they represent,” Mirehani said.
She also said Kidero has failed to empower the small business owners.
“Small businesses, including hawkers, the boda boda operators, the jua kali sector and the market sellers make up the biggest percentage of businesses, but the current administration has completely ignored them and left them with no hope,” Mirehani said.
She said they will ensure the small businesses are prioritised.
“If we built a place for the hawkers and they have a strategic point of operation, all this commotion in the city will be resolved,” Mirehani said.
Source:http://www.the-star.co.ke/
