|Overview of the Kenyan Parliament|
Know your county MPS: Nairobi
By George Oyaya
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County.
The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nairobi, which translates to "cold water," the Maasai name of the Nairobi river, which in turn lent its name to the city. However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is surrounded by several expanding villa suburbs.
Nairobi is the most populous city in East Africa, with a current estimated population of about 3 million. According to the 2009 Census, in the administrative area of Nairobi, 3,138,295 inhabitants lived within 696 km2. Nairobi is currently the 12th largest City in Africa including the population of it.
Nairobi is now one of the most prominent cities in Africa politically and financially. Home to thousands of Kenyan businesses and over 100 major international companies and organisations, including the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the main coordinating and headquarters for the UN in Africa & Middle East, the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON), Nairobi is an established hub for business and culture.
The Nairobi Securities is one of the largest in Africa and the second oldest exchange on the continent. It is ranked 4th in terms of trading volume and capable of making 10 million trades a day.
Nairobi has 8 constituencies namely: Langata, Kasarani, Dagoretti, Makadara, Westlands, Kamukunji, Embakasi and Starehe.
Langata constituency is represented in Parliament by the country`s Prime Minister Mr. Raila Odinga popularly known as Agwambo.He is the son of the country`s first Vice-President Mr.Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and vied for the 2007 General election where he came second to incumbent President in a hotly contested and controversially Presidential election that nearly divided and disrupted the daily smooth activities in Kenya which is seen as a peaceful country surrounded by turmoil countries among them the lawless Somalia.
Odinga was born on January 7,1945 and trained as an Engineer in Germany between 1965 and 1970.He joined Nairobi University after graduating from Germany and taught as a lecturer upto 1974 and later appointed as a Deputy Managing Director of Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBS).
He on several occasions found himself on the wrong side with then the Government of retired President Daniel Arap Moi and jailed for a total of 8 years for agitating for the restoration of multi-party democracy in Kenya.Odinga who has declared his interest to run for Presidency again next year represents a constituency with one of the biggest slums in the world.
Odinga who is regarded as fairly wealthy runs a family business company called Spectre International Limited and is married to Ida Odinga whom they have five children Fidel, Rosemary, Raila Junior and Winnie.
Kasarani constituency is represented in the Kenyan Parliament by Assistant Minister for Nairobi Metropolitan Mrs. Elizabeth Ongoro.
Ongoro is a first timer in Kenyan Parliament and holds a Masters in Environmental planning and Management from Nairobi University. She also holds a Bachelors degree of Education from Kenyatta University.
She attended Lwak girls high school and Rangala Girls high school in Nyanza Province. People in the constituency whom we interviewed had a mixed feelings about her leadership some praising her with others saying the incident in which her husband Mr. Ferdinand Masha Kenga was allegedly involved in Constituency Development Fund (CDF) tendering contracts nearly tainted her image.
Tomorrow we bring you MPS in Dagoretti and Makadara.