• Governor Sonko had on Saturday told county staff to ignore directive by the PSC.
• Sonko accused individuals from the national government for pursuing the implementation of the deed of transfer of functions in an "atrocious and repugnant manner".
Image: PSCU
City Hall staff defied a directive by Governor Mike Sonko and their union and showed up for the secondment to the Nairobi Metropolitan Service on Monday.
The workers lined up as early as 8am at Uhuru Park to collect their letters of secondment to the newly created NMS, which is led by director general Mohammed Badi.
Badi told off Sonko over his protests that NMS didn't have the human resource function, reminding him that he signed the deed of transfer of county functions, and thus has no mandate to stop the process.
The Public Service Commission on Friday issued a notice directing the 6,502 staff under the four transferred dockets to appear for the exercise or risk losing their jobs.
The event was shifted from Kenyatta International Convention Centre to Uhuru Park to ensure the 1.5-metre social distancing directive to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
As an additional measure, all the workers had face masks on as they line up to receive their letters.
Speaking at Uhuru Park, Badi said the process would last till Friday and not Tuesday as announced earlier.
“We have to consider the curfew directive and release the staff [early] to reach home early. Therefore, we have extended the exercise till Friday,” he said.
Badi said that only 3,000 workers will receive the letters at Uhuru Park as the rest are health workers. And being the majority, Badi said, the NMS saw it fit to allow them to continue working.
“The Majority of the staff are health workers, which is the most critical sector and as we are undergoing tough times in curbing the spread of Covid-19, they are not affected by this exercise,” Badi said.
Instead, NMS will visit the health centres they are working from and ensure they all get the secondment letters.
Sonko voiceless
The new Sheriff in town said having signed the deed of transfer, Governor Sonko has no mandate whatsoever to give orders pertaining the four functions.
Stamping his authority, Badi further said not only were the four functions transferred to him but also the staff, their working place and official vehicles.
A deal to transfer the county's core functions to NMS was signed on February 25 by Sonko and Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa in the presence of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka.
Under the deed, planning and development, public works, health, transport, utilities and ancillary services were transferred to the national government for a renewable period of 24 months.
The ancillary services include security and safety including inspectorate, investigations and disaster management, information and communication services, public finance management, public service transformation and emergency services
“Sonko appended his signature on the deed of transfer, giving the four functions to the National Government and on March 18, I officially took the four functions at State House which was witnessed by the President," Badi said.
Governor Sonko on Saturday told county staff to ignore the directive by the PSC.
Sonko accused individuals from the national government of pursuing the implementation of the deed of transfer of functions in an "atrocious and repugnant manner".
The Kenya County Government Workers' Union said the staff secondment should be suspended.
The union had asked its members not to attend the exercise to avoid exposing themselves to the Covid-19.
However, Badi noted that the county assembly also acknowledged the transfer of the functions.
Last week on Thursday, the MCAs passed a motion consenting realignment, codification and raking of seconded county personnel to the national government.
As a result, close to Sh140 million was slashed from the governor's budget in supplementary estimates passed by the House.
The Nairobi Metropolitan Services was allocated Sh15 billion for the transferred functions.
The President gave Major General Badi and his team 100 days to dismantle cartels at City Hall.
The team was also tasked to put an end to corruption at City Hall, which was said to be the biggest problem faced by Nairobi.
Staff to meet Badi-led team
Speaker Beatrice Elachi said there will be a meeting between the workers and NMS where they will get a chance to air out their grievances.
“We know there are various challenges faced by the workers but we will plan for a meeting where the union leaders will get a chance to consult the director general and address the challenges," Elachi said.
The meeting is scheduled to take place in the course of the week.
Elachi urged the staff to show up for the secondment exercise and be part of the change Nairobi needs.
Edited by E.Kibii