Kasarani Member of Parliament Ronald Karauri says Nairobi’s persistent challenges require a governor with strong management and execution skills, arguing that success in Parliament does not necessarily translate into effective leadership of a county government.
In an interview, Karauri made the case that governing Nairobi requires a different set of competencies from those needed to serve as a legislator, placing administrative ability and service delivery at the centre of his bid for the governor’s seat.
He used Governor Johnson Sakaja’s political career to illustrate his argument, noting that Sakaja had previously been ranked highly during his time as Nairobi senator but that parliamentary performance did not automatically translate into county leadership.
“Those two jobs require different skills,” Karauri said.
He argued that the role of a governor is primarily about managing the county and ensuring that public services are delivered, while a legislator’s work is assessed through a different set of responsibilities.
“Governor is more of that management of the county, very different from the job of Parliament,” he said.
Karauri further argued that Nairobi’s problems would remain unresolved if voters continued choosing leaders based on political profiles or achievements that did not necessarily demonstrate their ability to manage a complex county administration.
“If we keep electing people based on those same skills to go run Nairobi County, we will always have that gap and Nairobi will never be solved,” he said.
The MP’s argument is closely linked to his own professional background, which includes experience in aviation and business.
During the interview, he said he worked as a pilot at Kenya Airways for 11 years, spending six years as a co-pilot and five as a captain flying Boeing 737 aircraft.
He also served as the general secretary of the Kenya Airline Pilots Association before leaving the airline to take up a leadership role at SportPesa.
Karauri suggested that his experience in aviation had shaped how he approaches public safety and institutional accountability.
Discussing building collapses in Nairobi, he compared the investigations required after such incidents to aviation accident investigations, which he said should identify not only the immediate cause but also the wider failures that contributed to the disaster.
He maintained that the objective should be to change procedures and systems to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
For him, this approach should also apply to the management of Nairobi County, particularly in departments responsible for planning, building approvals and enforcement.
He argued that county officers should not allow construction to continue where buildings lack the required approvals, noting that the county has powers to stop construction and demolish unsafe structures.
His proposed management approach also features in his plans for waste collection.
Karauri said the county should introduce monitoring systems for garbage trucks to establish whether contractors complete their assigned work before receiving payment.
He cited what he described as more than KSh100 million paid to garbage trucks but unaccounted for in an Auditor-General’s report, arguing that better oversight would improve accountability.
The MP also wants to make it easier for small-scale entrepreneurs to start businesses by waiving their first-year business permit fees.
His broader argument is that Nairobi needs a county administration capable of turning plans and public resources into visible services.
READ MORE: Ronald Karauri Offers Nairobi a New Leadership Model Built on Results, Not Excuses
