Johnson Sakaja, the governor of Nairobi, has disclosed that he was one of the leaders who was invited to cycle with First Lady Rachel Ruto in June but declined.
On that particular occasion, the First Lady made headlines after cycling from the State House via Karura Forest to Gigiri for the UN Habitat Assembly, less than a month after she had done the same thing to raise awareness of cycling.
Governor Sakaja said he decided not to participate in the cycling activity because of the condition of the nation’s roads while speaking at a meeting with content and creative creators on Friday at Uhuru Park.
“I was supposed to cycle with the First Lady to Karura. I refused because I was embarrassed because we are cycling in the middle of the road. You should not be cycling in the middle of the road. You should be cycling on a cycle path,” Sakaja said.
While discussing public space squatters who had encroached on even pedestrian routes on several county highways, making it difficult for bicycles as well, the governor brought up the subject.
“I’m reclaiming those spaces, let us have jogging tracks, let us have cycle tracks,” Sakaja said while appealing on Nairobi residents to support his efforts to reclaim public spaces.
In his engagement with content creators, the Governor asked the youth to use the opportunity to sell the vibe of the city to their followers in social media platforms.