Allow new city team to work without political bickering, says expert

The Nairobi Metropolitan Service must be allowed to work without political interference, an expert has said.

Town planner Dr Lawrence Esho told the Star that the NMS will only deliver if allowed to work independently. 

“There is a need to allow professionals to do their work. Political goodwill is what is needed,” Esho told the Star in a phone interview.

He said the problems facing the city need a technocrat with political goodwill from the national government.

“The affairs of Nairobi city should not be run from the State House,” Esho said.

He noted that the officials who have been seconded from the national government have what it takes to fix Nairobi.

He said the team can help generate massive resources for the city making it attractive to investors scouting for opportunities.

The town planner, however,  cautioned against repeating the 1980s, when the city was in the hands of the national government.

“When Nairobi city was under a commissioner, it brought the city to its knees,” he said.

Esho said the county assembly should provide oversight role to ensure residents have access to services.

“Nairobi is a cow that produces a lot of milk. Let us ensure it is milked well and taxes well [used]. Nairobi can run itself." 

He said the city can generate enough resources enough to offset some of the loans the country has such as that for the standard gauge railway.

“This is the cash that is being stolen,” he said.

Esho further noted that for a good start, Badi needs to restore discipline at City Hall.

Nairobi Metropolitan boss Major General Mohamed Badi took over four key county functions transferred to the national government on March 20, promising to turn the city around.

Badi acknowledged that restoring the lost glory in what was once known as the green city in the sun will not be a walk in the park.

Some of the key challenges include uncollected garbage, water scarcity, insecurity, traffic congestion and poor housing.

The functions that Sonko surrendered are health, transport, public works, utilities and ancillary services and planning and development.

Tourism CS Najib Balala, who had co-headed the Nairobi Regeneration Team with Sonko regretted, “Some programmes took off while others did not.”

That team, which was formed in April 2018, was tasked with fixing public safety and security, housing and settlement, education and health, environment, water and sanitation, and garbage management.

Other tasks were traffic management, business and wealth creation and social inclusion of youth, women and people living with disabilities.

But even as before Badi settles in his new role, trouble has already started.

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on Friday urged county staff to ignore a directive by Public Service Commission which seconded 6,052 employees to the Nairobi Metropolitan Service.

Sonko accused individuals from the national government for pursuing the implementation of the Deed of Transfer of Functions in an “atrocious and repugnant manner.”

On Friday, Public Service Commission chairman Stephen Kirogo through a notice said 6,052 county staff should report on Monday for documentation and collection of letters of secondment at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre. The event was moved to Uhuru Park.

Workers defied Sonko and showed up to collect their letters as directed.

Nairobi lawyer Charles Kanjama said that any process involving the transfer of functions, including the secondment of staff, has to be done by consent.

“Without consent in the transfer of functions and secondment of staff, [the process] is invalid. That is the position in the law,” Kanjama told the Star on the phone.

The lawyer said the national government cannot force the execution of the transferred functions.

He, however, noted that the county cannot move to court but only reject what they feel is not done in the right manner.

“The county can just tell its staff who do not need to report not to,” he said.

Sonko, in a letter to the head of public service Joseph Kinyua dated March 27, raised concerns about the way the deed was being executed.

The governor said his director in charge of City Inspectorate, Joseph Kipsang, was arbitrarily arrested on March 22 allegedly for defying orders.

Sonko said Kipsang and his entire county team was required to be answerable to Nairobi police commander yet the department is not one of those captured in the deed.

“Clearly, this was not only unacceptable intimidation but a violation of rights that may hamper the implementation of the deed,” he said.

Edited by E.Kibii