• Sonko said that the Nairobi Metropolitan Service, through the PSC, was intimidating the county staff, warning that it has no jurisdiction in law over county employees.
• The NMS team was tasked with ending corruption in the capital city and given 100 days to revive essential services.
All is not well at City Hall following Governor Mike Sono's weekend cancellation of the secondment of 6,052 staff to the the Public Service Commission.
Trouble started after the PSC on Friday published the names of the staff who should today (Monday) and tomorrow report for documentation and collection of letters of secondment at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre or else risk losing their jobs.
Sonko said that the newly established Nairobi Metropolitan Service, through the PSC, was intimidating the county staff saying that it has no jurisdiction in law over county employees.
He told the county staff to ignore the directive. City Hall has 11,000 workers, but only 6,052 are being transferred to the PSC.
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.
The transfer deed was to ensure efficient service delivery to Nairobi residents. All was well until the county administration started murmuring about being ignored and sidelined by the new team headed by Uhuru appointee Major General Mohammed Badi.
The appointment was made on March 18.
On Saturday, Sonko accused state officials of taking advantage of the deed of transfer to pursue their agenda.
The governor said the commission was disregarding senior county officials in its communication to Nairobians.
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 Badi team was tasked with ending corruption in the capital city and given 100 days to revive essential services.
Image: PSCU
The county has 11,000 staff but only 6052 staff were seconded to NMS, leaving many asking what happens to the rest.
Sonko’s directive is likely to cause trouble between him and the NMS .
Last week, the MCAs realigned the county’s budget estimates for 2019-2020 to the requirements of the NMS and allocated it Sh15 billion. The budget for the governor's and that of his deputy was slashed Sh203 million.
Meanwhile, the Kenya County Government Workers' Union is also of the view that the staff secondment should be suspended.
In a notice issued on Saturday, the union asked its members not to go KICC to avoid exposing themselves to the Covid-19.
“We are astonished with the great speed at which that the issue of transfer of functions is being implemented without compliance with the law and properly laid down procedures.
"The responsibility of communicating the issue of secondment vests with their employer, Nairobi City County Government, and not the Public Service Commission,” the union said.
County Executive Committee members whose functions were transferred are in the dark and are anxious about the next move.
A senior county official who sought anonymity said that there has been no communication from the Nairobi Metropolitan Service.
“We only met the NMS officials a few weeks back and briefed them on our sectors in terms of projects achieved, ongoing and planned. After that we haven’t heard anything,” the official said, adding that they are in the dark just like the public.
The CECs have been reporting to their offices despite fears of the spread of Covid-19.
“We only meet physically when it is absolutely necessary but we still have our meetings online and communicate as usual,” the official said while explaining that the deed of transfer was clear that the national and the county governments will work in collaboration.
On March 27, 2020 Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua released a list of 32 officers seconded from the national government to the NMS.
Their titles are chief officers, secretary, principal assistants and directors. This created more confusion as City Hall already has chief officers and directors.
“ I don’t know if they want to render CECs and chief officers as well as directors as irrelevant because we cannot have two people performing the same roles,” the official said.
The same official said that the NMS team should reach out to the county officers in good faith.
“People should not shy away from meeting. One comes in a new office, It takes time - even six months - for one to settle.”
The official said that notwithstanding the measures put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19, projects on the ground are being implemented including weekly building permits approvals and road projects.
“Constitutionally, we are still answerable to the governor and we acknowledge the agreement in the deed of transfer. We need direction on what becomes of us in the new restructure of the county because we are ready to work ,” the official said.
- mwaniki fm