Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has explained his absence from the scene of the Embakasi Gas Explosion in the aftermath of the tragedy that has since claimed seven lives and over 280 nursing serious injuries.
Speaking during a media interview on Wednesday, February 7, Sakaja stated that he flew to Cape Town, South Africa for a Leadership Forum meeting that centred around discussing transformative ways of instituting change in African cities.
According to Sakaja, the forum, titled The African Mayoral Leadership Initiative (AMALI) City Leadership Forum, was a key conference that brought together governors, city mayors and leaders from across Africa and globally.
Sakaja was responding after Kenyans and different stakeholders raised concerns about his whereabouts, especially since he is the capital's county chief. While other Nairobi leaders like Embakasi East MP Babu Owino and Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris dropped everything they were doing and rushed to the scene, Sakaja just issued a statement.
"We had a Governors forum that day. It also involved Professor Anyang Nyong'o (Kisumu) and Joseph Ole Lenku (Kajiado) and it detailed ways of transforming Nairobi's economy," he revealed during the Radio Jambo interview.
He also seized the opportunity to break down his recent directive where he ordered the closure of all gas businesses operating in residential areas in Nairobi. Sakaja reaffirmed that the policy decision was well-informed and would enhance the safety of Kenyans living in various neighbourhoods within the capital.
Sakaja added that the directive would be implemented despite most of the outlets set to be affected possessing licences issued by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).
"Even if it is not our duty to license gas, if your business is in a residential area, you will need to close. We won't allow it even if you have an EPRA licence," he remarked.
"I talked to EPRA Director-General Daniel Kiptoo and we agreed to work together."
The governor also disputed reports of playing politics to the disadvantage of victims of the Embakasi explosion, after Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna accused him of only allocating Ksh280,000 to respond to the tragedy despite Nairobi County having a substantial disaster response budget.
"I heard someone say yesterday that I have dished out small money, that is from my pocket. I have used over Ksh2 million for this cause but it's because you don't need to advertise everything," he added.
"There is a process and we will take care of those families."
