Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has said the County, in conjunction with the national government, must implement the five light rail projects.
The proposals are contained in the Sh9 billion partnership deal signed by the two governments and the World Bank.
The Governor on Wednesday said the projects have been derailed by bad politics and corruption.
However, there is still time to implement them, he noted.
The partnership deal was signed in 2013.
The Sh9 billion was to be used for the construction of various markets, two fire stations, upgrading of drainage systems, walkways, and sinking of various boreholes.
“Because of too much politics and bad leadership, none of these projects took off. During that time, some monies were misappropriated in the name of upgrading of the Tom Mboya fire station,” Sonko said in Montpellier, France.
The governor has assured residents that he has agreed with President Uhuru Kenyatta that the five projects must go on as previously planned.
“We are doing five lines from main Nairobi central railway station to help ease movement within and out of the city,” Sonko said.
The projects are Nairobi-Mwiki-Githurai-Ruiru light rail, Nairobi-Imara Daima-Embakasi Village light rail, Nairobi-Syokimau-Athi River light rail, Nairobi-Kibera-Kikuyu light rail and Nairobi-Rongai-Kiserian light rail.
He revealed that Line 1 will soon be launched by President Uhuru and himself after the head of state agreed to the fast-tracking of the project.
The governor said this will go hand in hand with the two-billion-euro worth of infrastructure deals signed by Nairobi and Paris when French President Emanuel Macron visited Kenya.
The project entails construction of a railway line from the traffic-congested City to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Sonko also revealed that a consortium led by France’s largest construction firm, Vinci, secured a 30-year concession to improve and operate a much-needed highway between Nairobi Northwest to Mau.
This is a busy stretch and is among the country’s deadliest.
At the same time, Sonko has yet again been invited by the mayors of Seoul and Seongnam Cities for the WeGO executive committee (EXCOM) meeting which will be held on October 14 to October 16, 2019.
The theme of the meeting is “Advancing Human-Centered Smart Cities” where over 1,000 metropolitan and smart city leaders are expected to attend.
The dates from Seoul and Seongnam was signed by mayors Woo-Son Park and Soomi-Yun respectively.
Governor Sonko said Nairobi will continue working with leaders across the world in advancing economic development and the need to create smart cities.