Jalang’o Dismisses Filing Petition to Stop Nairobi County’s Green Army

by Timothy Cerullo on Thursday, 29 May 2025 - 10:46 am

Lang'ata MP Felix Odiwuor alias Jalang'o speaking during Labor Day celebrations in Nairobi on May 1, 2024

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Jalang'o Mwenyewe

Lang'ata MP Felix Odiwour, also known as Jalang'o, has dismissed claims he filed a petition before the court to stop Nairobi County government's Green Army youths from working.

The Green Army is a youth group formed by Governor Johnson Sakaja to empower young Kenyans through environmental conservation efforts within the city.

Jalang'o, in a statement on Wednesday evening, labelled the reports about his alleged petition as malicious and misleading, stating that he has never filed any case against the Green Army.

"It is completely false that I want to terminate or stop the Green Army youths from working. These rumours are malicious and misleading. I have never filed any petition in court against the Green Army," Jalang'o clarified.

Nairobi Governor Johson Sajaka instructing County officials to lead the unclogging of blocked drainages.

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Health Business

According to him, there is no case in any Kenyan court challenging the legality of the Green Army, and the misleading information spreading on the internet was designed to cause confusion and division.

Addressing the matter, Jalang'o instead demanded that each youth working under the county's environmental initiative be paid a minimum wage of Ksh30,000.

The MP, while expressing his full support for the Green Army, also called on Governor Sakaja's administration to make the job permanent and pensionable.

"I fully support the Green Army. I believe that each youth should be paid KSh30,000, and their jobs should be made permanent and pensionable. They also deserve respect, dignity, and long-term support," Jalang'o said.

Jalang'o's clarification comes hours after the High Court in Nairobi declined to issue orders suspending the operations of the Green Army Initiative following a petition filed by a private citizen.

The petitioner, on Tuesday, May 27, moved to court, urging it to halt the Sakaja-led initiative, claiming that the Nairobi County Government was subjecting the casual workers to inhumane and unlawful conditions.

According to the petitioner, the project has no clear employment structure, which has left hundreds of workers without written contracts and job security.

Meanwhile, Justice Lawrence Mugambi in his ruling, declined to stop the project and instead directed the petitioner to serve the respondents, including Sakaja and the Nairobi County Government, with the petition within 7 days.