Mayor of Nairobi

The Mayor of Nairobi is the non-executive head of Nairobi City Council in Nairobi, Kenya. The Mayor's office, officially the Mayor’s Palour, is located at City Hall Nairobi. The current mayor is George Aladwa of ODM elected on 10th August 2011 ^[1]

There was no Mayor of Nairobi from 1983 to 1992 because the City Council of Nairobi was replaced by a City Commission appointed by then president Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi. The City Council was restored after the multiparty elections of 1992. The following is a list of the mayors of Nairobi from the time the city was a colonial town. Some names and other relevant details may be missing due to unavailable information.

Mayor	Term	Party	Notes
James Riddell	1925–1927	Unknown	Not to be confused with James Riddell, British skier. James Riddell was a two time mayor of Nairobi. First served from 1925-1927 and later 1931-1933. Mayor Riddell was a one time president of the Caledonian Society in Kenya about 1928. He also had a son called James Riddell born in Kenya.
Charles Udall	1928–1930	Unknown	Alderman Udall was the mayor of Nairobi who opened the first Rotary Club in Kenya on March 11, 1930.
James Riddell	1931–1933	Unknown	Second time he served as mayor of Nairobi
Edward (George) Gwinnett Bompas	1934-1936 (probable)	Unknown	Councillor G. Gwinnett was the mayor who performed the opening ceremony of the Sikh Union Club House on July 8, 1934.
	1936-1937		Not clear who was mayor during this period.
Lady Gwladys (Gladys) Delamere	1938-1940	Unknown	Councillor Gwladys was the widow (second wife) of Lord Delamere. She was the first female mayor of Nairobi. She joined the Municipal Council in 1934 and served as councillor until 1938 when she was elected mayor.
Mrs Needham-Clarke			Mrs Needham-Clarke is said to have been another female mayor of Nairobi. Not known exactly when.
Ernest Vasey	1941-1942	Unknown	Served as mayor before he joined the Legislative Council (then parliament) in 1948. He became minister for local government in 1950.
	1942-1948		Not clear who was mayor at that time.
Frederick George Richard Woodley	1949-1950 (probable)	Unknown	Mayor Woodley was the mayor of Nairobi when the Duke of Gloucester presented a charter conferring city status to the town on March 31, 1950. Woodley Estate in Nairobi is named in his honour.
Norman Harris	probably 1950	Unknown	Councillor Norman was the deputy mayor when Woodley was Mayor. Harris probably began his term as mayor in 1950.
Dr. J.R. Gregory		Unknown	Said to have been Mayor of Nairobi. Not known when.
Harold Travis		Unknown	Served twice as mayor of Nairobi from 1953-1954 and later from 1961-1962.
Reggie S. Alexander	1954-1955	Unknown	First local born mayor of Nairobi (of English ancestry). Was an Old Cambrian member. Alexander was mayor when the Queen Mother was on holiday in Kenya.
Israel Somen	1957-1959	Unknown	Mayor "Izzie" was at one time refused membership of the Nairobi Club because he was Jewish. He later became Israel's Consul to Kenya. Established amicable relations between Kenya and Israel.
Harold Travis	1961-1962	Unknown	Second time he served as mayor. Mayor Travis was Nairobi's last European mayor. Together with a business associate, he established CFC Bank in Kenya in 1955.
Charles Rubia	1963-1969	KANU	Alderman Rubia was the first African mayor of Nairobi. Rubia Estate in Nairobi is named in his honour.
Margaret Kenyatta	1970-1976	KANU	Ms. Kenyatta was the third female mayor of Nairobi after Lady Glwadys Delamere and Mrs. Needham-Clarke. Some people wrongly refer to her as the first female mayor of Nairobi. She was also not the first African female mayor of Kenya. Mrs. Grace Onyango was the first African female mayor of Kenya (Kisumu Municipality 1965-1969).
Andrew Ngumba	1977-1980	KANU	Councillor Andrew Ngumba representing Kahawa Civic Ward was deputy mayor under Margaret Kenyatta before he was elected Mayor of Nairobi in February 1977. Ngumba Estate Nairobi is named in his honour.
Nathan Kahara	1980-1983	KANU	Last mayor of Nairobi before the City Council was dissolved by president Moi.
Vacant	1983-1992		Mayor's position abolished by then president Daniel Arap Moi. Nairobi city was run by a succession of Commissions until the 1992 multi party general elections in which councillors were elected to run the affairs of the city.
Steve Flavian Mwangi	1993-1994	NARC	Councillor Steve "Magic" Mwangi was elected into office on 24th February, 1993 at the first meeting of the city council. He resigned on 31st July, 1994.
Dick Waweru	1994-1996	Democratic Party (DP)	Twice served as mayor of Nairobi. Was mayor from 1994-1996 and later 2001-2002.
John King'ori	1996-1998	NARC	Councillor King'ori was the leader of a group of councillors who dramatically opposed Mayor Steve Mwangi in 1994 eventually leading to his resignation.
Sammy Mbugua	1998-1999	DP	In June 1999, a member of Parliament (D. Mwenje, Embakasi) suggested that Mayor Sammy Mbugua be investigated for allegedly defrauding the City Council of millions of shillings. Mayor Mbugua was alleged to have amassed a lot of wealth in dubious ways in the one year he had been in office.
John Ndirangu	1999-2001	DP	Mayor Ndirangu did not seek re-election at the end of his term decrying that the job carried no power to improve services or fight corruption as authority lay in the hands of the national government.
Dick Waweru	2001-2002	DP	First served as mayor from 1994-1996. He ran for mayor again and was elected in July 2001 after outgoing mayor John Ndirangu chose not to seek re-election. In 2002, Mayor Dick Waweru warned white Kenyans residing in Nairobi's affluent surburbs to pay outstanding taxes to the city or face "Zimbabwe style land seizures"
Joe Akech	2003-2004	NDP	Councillor Akech, a former boxing professional was deputy mayor under Dick Waweru before he was elected mayor of Nairobi on 13th February 2003. He beat his sole challenger Dickson Wathika by 38-33 votes.
Dickson Wathika	2004-2006	DP	Succeeded mayor Joe Akech. He served his first term from 2004-2006.
Dickson Wathika	2006-2008	DP	Successfully vied for a second term and was re-lected on July 19, 2006.
Geoffrey Majiwa	2008-2010	ODM	Elected mayor in February 2008. He was suspended from office in October 2010 because of allegations he was involved on a cemetery land corruption case.
George Aladwa	2010- 2012	ODM	Elected mayor in 10th August 2011, but was acting as Mayor since October 2010.

Deputy Mayor councillor George Aladwa assumed mayorial duties

Sources

1. ^ "ODM's Aladwa elected Nairobi Mayor" (in English). The Standard. August 11, 2011. http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000040612. 

References

1. http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=65262

2. http://allafrica.com/stories/200802291074.html

3. Norman Harris: From trusteeship to development: how class and gender complicated Kenya's housing policy, 1939–1963

4. Lady Gwladys (Gladys) Delamere: http://eawl.org/eawl-1940s.html

• Lady Gwladys (Gladys) Delamere http://soysambuconservancy.wordpress.com/history/

5. Reward those who value colonial heritage Posted Saturday, July 10 2010 at 17:31 daily nation.com

6. http://www.oldcambrians.com/Photos-QueenMother1959.html

7. Red strangers: the white tribe of Kenya By Christine Stephanie Nicholls

• http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/kenya.html

• http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/kenya.html

8. http://books.google.com/books?id=7XQdt37BJ6cC&pg=PA245&lpg=PA245&dq=%22somen+mayor+of+nairobi%22&source=bl&ots=UQyV6wXP1V&sig=iyMEBE80MRm2XdDdFKOJFm-kYM0&hl=en&ei=PWgfTcmZGYSs8AbvwJGpDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22somen%20mayor%20of%20nairobi%22&f=false