President William Samoei Ruto has intensified his political messaging in the capital, tying a sweeping infrastructure and housing programme to what critics say is a broader bid to consolidate influence in Nairobi ahead of the 2027 political cycle.
Speaking during a special session of the Nairobi City County Assembly, Ruto defended the cooperation agreement between the national and county governments, framing it as a necessary intervention to restore order and efficiency in a city he described as “the face of our nation.”
“We are leveraging the cooperation agreement to address longstanding challenges and restore order,” he said, listing an extensive slate of projects ranging from street lighting and water expansion to roads, housing and mass transit infrastructure.
But beneath the development agenda, the President’s remarks carried a sharper political undertone, repeatedly invoking themes of “order,” “cartels,” and “lawlessness” — language his allies have increasingly used to justify deeper national government involvement in urban management.
The plan includes installation of 50,000 street lights, expansion of water supply by 50,000 cubic metres daily, and construction of two 27-kilometre trunk sewer lines along the Nairobi River, alongside a treatment plant capable of processing 60,000 cubic metres of waste daily.
The government also intends to build 247 kilometres of roads, overhaul solid waste management systems, and establish a Nairobi Metropolitan Police Unit, a proposal that has already raised concerns among some political actors and governance experts who warn it could blur the lines between national and county policing structures.
Ruto further said the administration is pushing ahead with 180,000 housing units and market stalls under the affordable housing programme, 112,000 of which are already under construction. He linked the initiative to economic transformation, job creation and urban renewal.
Major flagship projects—including the Talanta Sports City Stadium, the Bomas International Convention Complex at Bomas of Kenya, and the expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport—were also highlighted as evidence of what he termed a “city in transition.”
However, opposition leaders and civil society critics have increasingly questioned the political timing and centralisation of these interventions, arguing that the cooperation framework effectively shifts key functions away from county control and places Nairobi’s transformation narrative under direct presidential branding.
Some Nairobi leaders have privately expressed concern that the arrangement could reshape local governance ahead of the next elections, turning infrastructure delivery into a political campaign platform. Others have defended the partnership, saying the capital’s scale of challenges requires coordinated intervention beyond county capacity.
Ruto used the address to call for political unity in support of the reforms, urging leaders and residents to back what he described as a necessary fight against “cartels” and entrenched interests. “We call on Nairobi leaders and residents to come on board and support this bold and necessary course of transformation,” he said.
The Nairobi cooperation agreement has emerged as a key feature of the administration’s urban agenda, but it is also increasingly becoming a political fault line, reflecting broader tensions over devolution, resource control, and the balance of power between the national government and county administrations.
