Jubilee's Pauline Njoroge declares bid for Nairobi governor seat

The Jubilee Party Deputy Organising Secretary, Pauline Njoroge./FILE

The Jubilee Party Deputy Organising Secretary, Pauline Njoroge, has become the latest entrant into Nairobi City politics, declaring that she will run for the governor's seat.

Ms. Njoroge announced on Wednesday that she has commenced grassroots meet-the-people tours in Nairobi to ‘feel what the ground wants’ as she prepares to launch her campaign.

“As leaders, we often imagine that we know what people want or need. Yet too often we end up working at cross-purposes with the very citizens who put us in office, leaving them disappointed as priorities shift, benefits are redirected to ourselves, and critical services and basic amenities are denied to the people,” she said.

While declaring that she is firmly in the race to oust incumbent Johnson Sakaja of UDA, Ms Njoroge said she will offer people-centric leadership in managing city affairs.

“As I offer myself for leadership in Nairobi County under a dew deal for Nairobi, my ideals are firmly anchored in people-centred, service-delivery focused leadership. Leadership that restores dignity to our people and places their everyday needs and realities at the heart of governance.”

The Jubilee party official was speaking at a forum where she met with opinion leaders, men, women and youth leaders from Kasarani and Roysambu constituencies.

According to the aspirant,  her focus is to first listen to engage with the people and understand what they need, while her agenda and manifesto will be anchored on the feedback/insights that she will gather from the engagements.

“This approach must begin with the people themselves… listening first, then building a campaign agenda and manifesto that is informed by their voices, experiences and priorities. It is for this reason that I will first tour every constituency in Nairobi County under #PaulineNjorogeMtaani, to listen to Wananchi before fully embarking on the campaign journey.”

She told the groups that Nairobi deserves better infrastructure and service delivery, which includes the provision of free and safe drinking water, better parks, organised public transport and health services.

Ms. Njoroge said she will leverage the experience she got working under President Uhuru Kenyatta and ex-Prime Minister late Raila Odinga, as well as seeking partnership with other like-minded leaders, such as Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna.

The 40-year-old arrived in the national spotlight during the 2013 Presidential Elections, where she was tasked with maintaining Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance social networks, media monitoring, and building a comprehensive email, SMS, and social media database, among other responsibilities.

She has also served as a communication officer at the NEPAD/APRM Kenya Secretariat for approximately seven years, from September 2013 to October 2020 and was among the officials who led Raila’s AU chairperson election bid in 2024.

She now joins, among others, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, Embakasi Central MP James Gakuya, Makadara’s George Aladwa, ex-PS Irungu Nyakera and business lady Agnes Kagure, who have publicly declared their desire to oust Sakaja.

On Wednesday, President William Ruto met aspirants eying various seats in next year’s polls, among them 8 who have shown interest in Nairobi.