Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has said they are almost done with transfer of functions from the Nairobi Metropolitan Service to the county government.
He said most of the technical work has been completed and both teams are planning for an official date when the function will take place.
“Last week we had a lengthy engagement with general Mohammed Badi where he was able to hand over almost all functions back to the county government," Sakaja said.
The governor said within a week or two he will sign a deed of retransfer that will see all functions revert to the county government.
He also said the technical teams have managed to audit all NMS assets, pending bills and the findings will be shared when he signs the new deed.
“We must acknowledge that NMS has done some good work, though there are hitches here and there. NMS came at a time when the county was suffering from serious wounds and was able to save it from further bleeding,” Sakaja said.
The county boss however said skills and knowledge acquired by the seconded staff under NMS will be used to enhance City Hall's capacity.
“NMS has had exemplary service delivery and great impact on all residents of Nairobi. During the transition we shall work as a team, upholding the principle of public office, for continued and efficient service to the people," he said.
Last week, the governor announced he will extend the contracts of 20 former Kenya Defence Forces mechanics that had been seconded by the NMS.
The former soldiers, whose contracts with the NMS expired end of last month, had been attached to the county ’s central garage in Industrial area.
The soldiers had been supporting 12 county mechanics in maintaining vehicles.
“We shall extend your contracts by another two years because we do not want a disruption in the services you have been offering. We are commissioning a staff audit but in the meantime, let’s not lose anyone useful,” Sakaja said.
Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko had in 2020 surrendered essential county functions to the national government, in what subsequently birthed NMS.
Former president Uhuru Kenyatta on March 17, 2021 established the NMS and appointed Badi as its director general.
Through executive order No. 3 of 2020, the functions under NMS included county health services, transport, public works, utilities and ancillary services, and county planning and development.
The signing of the deed of transfer left City Hall in control of less influential departments.
They include ICT and e-government, education and sports, agriculture and livestock, trade and co-operatives, devolution, environment and finance sectors.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
