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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edgah Henderson | 1923–1924 | Unknown | First mayor of Nairobi |
| Charles Udall | 1924–1925 | Unknown | First of four times he served as mayor of Nairobi |
| 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. |
| Alfred Thomas Wood | 1927–1929 | Unknown | |
| Charles Udall | 1929–1930 | Unknown | Alderman Udall was the mayor of Nairobi who opened the first Rotary Club in Kenya on March 11, 1930. |
| Franze Rudolf Mayer | 1930–1931 | Unknown | |
| James Riddell | 1931–1933 | Unknown | Second time he served as mayor of Nairobi |
| Joseph Mortimer | 1933–1934 | Unknown | |
| 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. |
| Alfred Thomas Wood | 1936-1937 | Unknown | |
| Joseph Mortimer | 1937–1938 | Unknown | |
| 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. |
| Ernest Albert 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. |
| Charles Udall | 1942–1943 | Unknown | |
| Charles Udall | 1943–1944 | Unknown | |
| Ernest Albert Vasey | 1944–1946 | Unknown | |
| Tyson George Alfred | 1946–1947 | Unknown | |
| 1947-1948 | 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 | 1953-1954 | 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. |
| Mrs Marjorie Needham-Clarke | Mrs Needham-Clarke is said to have been another female mayor of Nairobi. Not known exactly when - possibly 1958-1960 | ||
| 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 suburbs to pay outstanding taxes to the city or face "Zimbabwe style land seizures" |
| Joe Aketch | 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 mayoral duties
Famous quotes containing the word mayor:
“Break up the printing presses and you break up rebellion.”
—Dudley Nichols, U.S. screenwriter. Jean Renoir. Mayor (Thurston Hall)