Five pillars. Every one is a number, a date, or a published document.

1

Ward Iliyo Wazi

THE PUBLISHED WARD

“You should never have to wonder where the money went.”

The problem: today, nobody in Township can tell you how bursaries are allocated, who wins ward tenders, or where the ward development fund goes. Not because anyone has been proven to steal, but because nothing is published. You are asked to trust.

The commitments:

• Every shilling of the Ward Development Fund published every quarter: project, value, contractor, status.
• The bursary register: every award published: school, amount, and the criteria used. (Children’s names protected.)
• The tender register: every ward tender published within 7 days: value and winning firm.
• Two signatures on every ward committee disbursement. This is not a new idea for Maina; it is how he has run institutions for years.
• A quarterly public account, read aloud at estate meetings, not buried in a website.

Proof he can: in 2019 he inherited a fellowship that met under trees and kept no records. He banked every remittance and required two signatures on every withdrawal.

2

Mtaji, Sio Makombo

CAPITAL, NOT CRUMBS

“Own the contract. Don’t just carry the stones.”

The problem: casual labour is honest work, and it ends the day the road ends. Township’s own businesses report that real contracts pass them by, while our traders still borrow from shylocks at punishing rates to stock their stalls. Wages that never become capital. Work that never becomes ownership.

The commitments:

• Sponsor a local-content motion in the County Assembly: a published minimum share of ward works for Township-registered firms, youth groups and CBOs.
• A ward business desk that helps local groups qualify to bid: registration, tax compliance, bid bonds. The barrier is usually paperwork, not ability.
• Convene the savings movement: bring chamas, savings groups and co-operatives together so every trader in this ward has a route to fair credit.
• Financial literacy in every estate: the classes Maina has taught traders for a decade.

Proof he can: he spent ten years turning a table-banking group into a registered, audited co-operative. He knows how to build one, and he will help you build yours.

3

Usiku Wenye Kazi

THE NIGHT THAT WORKS

“The lights are on. So why does everyone still go home at midnight?”

Credit where it is due: the county’s solar streetlights are a good programme, and Township is brighter for it. But walk Biashara at midnight: the lights are on, and the stalls are closing. Light alone is not a night economy. Four things still send everyone home, and none of them is darkness:

• Transport: traders and customers can’t get home late. We will convene the matatu SACCOs to agree published last-service times on key routes. A candidate named after a route number understands: when the transport dies, the economy dies with it.
• Security: a lit street with no patrol is a better-lit robbery. A ward night-security plan with published patrol coverage.
• Facilities: toilets, water and lock-up storage at named trading points. Nobody trades twelve hours without a toilet; nobody leaves stock on a pavement.
• Licensing: a by-law that permits and protects late trading, with clear hours.

Plus: a maintenance register for the lights that already exist. Report a dead light, get a reference number and a repair date. The county installed them; someone must keep them on.

4

Maji na Heshima

WATER & DIGNITY

“A city with open sewers is just a town with a certificate.”

The problem: Kiandutu, home to 30,000 of our neighbours, has been promised drainage and sanitation since 2015, and children still wade through contaminated water when it rains. Ngoingwa and the low-lying estates still guess when water will come. Garbage collection follows no schedule anyone can name.

The commitments:

• Kiandutu drainage and sanitation declared the ward’s #1 budget priority · with a published plan and named milestones, pushed in every budget cycle.
• A published water schedule per estate, and quarterly THIWASCO performance reports, so families plan instead of guessing.
• Garbage with a name on it: published collection days and a named contractor per estate, with a public scorecard.
• Drainage-before-tarmac as the standing rule for every ward works proposal.

From Section 9 to Kiandutu, water and waste are the two things every single estate in this ward has in common.

5

Ofisi Wazi

THE OPEN OFFICE

“Here is my calendar for the next 24 months. Hold me to it.”

The problem: after every election, the office door closes. Public participation becomes a rubber stamp. Residents complain they haven’t seen their MCA since the posters came down.

The commitments:

• The Mobile Office: a published 24-month calendar (date, estate, time), printed and distributed, not just posted online. Twice a month, kept, from Kiandutu to Karibaribi.
• Citizen-proposed projects take first claim on the ward development budget. Your priorities, not mine.
• Every submission gets a reference number and a response deadline. No more reports that vanish.
• An annual published record of every motion sponsored and every vote cast in the Assembly.

Proof he can: nine years of fellowship meetings, third Sunday, every month, rotating across churches. He has kept a calendar before.

★

City-Ready: the thread through everything

EARNING CITY STATUS

“A city is not a name. A city is whether your street has a working light, a bin that gets emptied, water in the tap, and a toilet that flushes.”

Thika stands on the threshold of becoming Kenya’s sixth city: the Senate committee has approved the elevation, and the charter process continues. Maina will track that process publicly, step by step, and fight for Township to meet the standard the title demands. Let us earn the title, not just receive it.