Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has dismissed calls for his resignation following deadly floods in the city, insisting he remains focused on addressing Nairobi’s challenges despite financial constraints facing the county government.

Heavy rains on Friday triggered severe flooding in several parts of Nairobi, leaving several people dead and exposing major weaknesses in the city’s drainage and infrastructure systems. The incident sparked anger among residents, many of whom accused the county administration of failing to put adequate flood prevention measures in place.

Responding to the criticism, Sakaja said stepping down was not an option, stressing that his administration is working to solve the city’s problems with the limited resources available.

“I am not resigning, I’m working,” Sakaja said.

“Every day I will do my best with the limitations we have as a city. Expectations are very high, and I understand them, but I am genuinely putting myself out there to solve the problems with what we have,” he added.

The governor said part of the financial pressure facing his administration stems from debts and stalled projects inherited from previous county governments.

According to Sakaja, his administration is currently prioritising the settlement of long-standing obligations before fully implementing its own development agenda.

“I am paying old debts from the first administration before even implementing mine, including stalled projects dating back to 2014,” he said.

He noted that many of the county’s ongoing initiatives are funded primarily through locally generated revenue, including parking fees and land rates.

“I am doing all these based on what we collect from parking and land rates,” Sakaja said.

The governor also explained that the equitable share allocated to counties by the national government is largely used to pay county staff salaries, leaving limited resources for development projects and operational costs.

“Equitable share mainly covers salaries. It does not cater for operations, maintenance, fuel, buying vehicles or building markets,” he said.

Sakaja acknowledged that financial constraints have slowed progress on several key projects, including those aimed at improving the city’s drainage systems to reduce flooding.

“All the projects we are undertaking are moving slowly because of financial challenges. If we had adequate resources, they would be completed faster,” he said.

Despite the setbacks, the governor said the county government has identified priority development areas across the city and plans to address them as funding becomes available.

“We know where we need more markets, where drainage needs to be expanded, where schools are needed and where more stadia should be built. The challenge is financing,” he added.

His remarks come as the city continues to deal with the aftermath of the floods, which disrupted transport, affected businesses and renewed concerns about urban flooding preparedness in Nairobi during extreme weather events.