TWV Team
The Nairobi County Government was plunged into chaos early this week, with services paralysed after workers downed their tools over a three-month salary delay. The strike laid bare the chronic financial mismanagement and broken promises that have become the hallmark of Governor Johnson Sakaja’s administration.
On Wednesday, irate employees blocked the entry and exit of vehicles belonging to senior county officials at City Hall, bringing official business to a grinding halt. Their message was unambiguous: no work until the money hits their accounts.
Kenya County Government Workers’ Union Secretary-General Festus Ngari accused the governor of playing “hide-and-seek games” with staff pay. “We will bring this city to a standstill,” he declared, underscoring the frustration of workers struggling to meet basic household expenses.
This latest standoff is not an isolated incident; it forms part of a pattern of recurring disputes over unpaid allowances, unhonoured collective bargaining agreements, and delayed promotions. Just last September, county workers took to the streets over salary increase disputes, only to be pacified by promises that remain largely unfulfilled.
The silence from the county administration over when salaries will be paid has deepened suspicions of gross mismanagement. Critics point to lavish spending on public relations stunts and pet projects, while the very staff who keep the city running are left destitute.
For residents of Nairobi, the consequences are immediate and severe. Garbage collection, licensing services, and public health inspections have ground to a halt, threatening to turn the capital into an unsanitary, dysfunctional mess.
Governor Sakaja, who rode to office on promises of efficiency and reform, now faces mounting pressure to explain why the capital’s workforce is perpetually on the brink of revolt. If this financial paralysis continues, national government intervention may become inevitable, a prospect that would be embarrassing for an administration already accused of losing control.
