Nairobi City County Director in charge of Markets Mrs Joyce Kyengo is under siege. Well-placed sources divulged that she is under pressure following revelations that revenue collection from markets has gone down for the time she has been in office.
For beginners, Joyce was once a director in charge of parking but was transferred by then Governor Mike Sonko after unconfirmed reports emerged that she may have been part of a cartel that was siphoning monies from the parking stream. Sonko transferred her to the position of Sub County Admin in charge of Dagoretti South where in less than a year; she was suspended following the collapse of a classroom at Precious Top Talent School where eight pupils died. She was later to lobby through the then CEC in charge of trade Newton Munene to have her appointed director in charge of Markets.
Back to the markets, records from the finance department show that since her posting from the position of Sub County Administrator to the position of Director of Markets, the Nairobi City County government has been losing millions of shillings in annual revenues due to what insiders say is bad leadership skills on her part and inability to implement policies.
For instance, it is in the public domain that Mwariro Market is yet to be officially opened but there are women already weaving and selling their wares at the market and some traders use the market’s parking yard to park trailers and lorries full of food items and specifically English potatoes. The question is, who authorized these traders to use the market and how much are they paying the county and the lorries packing within the market compound?
Sources divulged that since Joyce took over, revenue collection from the markets has drastically dropped and that a good fraction of the cash is pocketed by a clique of county officials working in cahoots with brokers through well-orchestrated deals. Some of the staff who talked to The Weekly Vision on strict condition of anonymity revealed that she has frustrated many market administrators some of whom she recommended their interdiction and suspension on flimsy grounds while she preferred working with NMS staff.
Investigations reveal that some former market administrators are currently interdicted or left with no workstations and that only county staff who are ready to play ‘ball’ weekly are the only ones whom she prefers working with. It is further claimed that market administrators are working under pressure to deliver to her a certain amount of money weekly which she claims is delivered to top officers at City Hall. For instance, it is in the public domain that Mwariro Market is yet to be officially opened but there are women already weaving and selling their wares at the market and some traders use the market’s parking yard to park trailers and lorries full of food items and specifically English potatoes. The question is, who authorized these traders to use the market and how much are they paying the county and the lorries packing within the market compound?
With the appointment of new CECs by Governor Johnston Sakajja, a reshuffle of directors is looming at City Hall and those who have questionable integrity and those who have not performed as expected are most likely to be transferred.
Considering that markets are a major revenue stream, it is high time Governor Sakajja appoints a more competent director to ensure revenue targets are met.
