In a bid to bring services closer to city dwellers and improve operational efficiency, Nairobi County has announced an administrative overhaul, creating six boroughs across the city.
At the same time, the county reorganised sub-county and ward administrators in reforms aimed at bringing county governance closer to residents, ensuring essential services are accessible with minimal delays.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja confirmed the changes, stating that the six boroughs would effectively end bureaucratic delays, which have almost become a norm in the city.
“Our goal is to streamline operations, cut unnecessary bottlenecks, and make Nairobi a working city where residents can access services efficiently and effectively,” Sakaja said.
A borough is a town district which has its own administration, where all city services are coordinated through local governance and structures.
Before the introduction of boroughs, service delivery in Nairobi was managed primarily through 17 sub-counties and their respective wards.
Each sub-county had a Sub-County Administrator, while ward representatives oversaw service delivery in the smaller wards. This system, however, faced bureaucratic bottlenecks, particularly in coordination between sub-counties, wards and county departments, which were at times extremely slow.
Under the new structure, each borough will have a dedicated manager responsible for coordinating services within their area. The manager will act as a direct link between residents and county operations.
Details of the Boroughs
The Central Borough will be led by one Charles Mabonga, with service centres at City Hall and Shauri Moyo. This borough will cover Starehe, Mathare and Kamkunji.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Borough, which covers Embakasi North, Embakasi West and Embakasi Central, will have its service centres located at the Sub-County Administrator's office in Umoja I and managed by George Muga.
For the Western Borough, it will serve areas including Westlands, Dagoretti North and Dagoretti South. It will be headed by Janet Kimey, and a service centre will be stationed at City Park.
The Southern Borough covers Kibra and Lang’ata and will be led by Dabasso Wario, with a service centre at Joseph Kang'ethe Social Hall.
Finally, the Northern Borough, which includes Kasarani, Ruaka and Roysambu, will be managed by Serah Gichamba. Its services will be accessible at the Gatharaini Grounds.
The borough managers will be accountable for service delivery, with residents being assured of faster access to essential services with reduced administrative bottlenecks.
