City majority leader Abdi Guyo seeks to have road named after Yusuf Haji
The late Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji. City MCA Abdi Guyo has said he will move a motion seeking to have a road in Nairobi named after Mr Haji.
Nairobi County Assembly Majority Leader Abdi Guyo has said that he will move a motion in the House next week urging the county executive to rename one city street after the late Garissa Senator Mohamed Yusuf Haji.
The Matopeni/Springvalley MCA said if effected, this will be a befitting tribute to a man who has been a peace ambassador in the country, which saw President Uhuru Kenyatta choose him to chair the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) taskforce.
Mr Guyo said that as the chairman of the taskforce, Mr Haji played a crucial role in midwifing the BBI constitutional amendment Bill which is aimed at putting an end to perennial tribal animosity every election cycle as well as dealing with issues of marginalisation.
Mr Haji passed away Monday last week at the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi at the age of 80 years after a long battle with illness.
Nairobi County Assembly Majority Leader Abdi Guyo who plans to have a motion seeking to have one road in the city renamed after the late Yusuf Haji.
BBI report
“His contribution towards the BBI report cannot go unnoticed especially [by] the people of Nairobi and having a road in the city renamed after the late senator will be a greater way to remember the great, noble man,” said Mr Guyo.
After a motion calling for renaming of a road after a prominent person is passed by the assembly, the implementation committee writes to the county executive communicating the approved motion.
The executive will within three months effect the change or reject it. However, the road to be renamed must be one which is under the jurisdiction of the county government and not the national government.
A number of roads in Nairobi have been renamed by City Hall in honour of men and women of great standing in the country including Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, Maurice Cardinal Otunga and Charles Rubia among others.
Prominent Kenyans
During Mashujaa Day celebrations in 2016, former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero renamed Forest Road after the late Prof Maathai in recognition of her tireless campaigns for a safe environment.
Dr Kidero also renamed Cross Road in the CBD after veteran multi-party politics crusader, Mr Rubia. The road between City Hall Annex and Cardinal Otunga Plaza to Uhuru Highway was also renamed Cardinal Otunga Road.
“The law requires that within three months of the approval of the motion, the motion should be effected or rejected,” said Nairobi County Assembly Minority Whip Peter Imwatok.
BBI taskforce Chairman Mohamed Yusuf Haji at KICC, Nairobi on February 19, 2020 during a public participation forum. Haji died on February 15, 2021.
Support motion
“We support the motion fully and I am the seconder of the motion. We will make sure the county executive identifies a road within a week and immediately rename it after Haji. He was the father of BBI,” he added.
Mr Guyo described the late Garissa senator as a man of high standing in society whose spirit of servant-leadership is admired not only by Nairobi leaders but by most politicians across the country.
“The service the late senator rendered to this country is enough for him to be honoured and I will be moving a motion next week on Tuesday to have a CBD road named after Haji,” he said.
He pointed out that for the last 55 years, Mr Haji served the country in various positions with dedication and selflessness, rising through the ranks to be a senator.
