•I am now ready for consequences, even if it means I am impeached - Sonko.
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Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko now says he is moving to court to challenge the gazettement of the Supplementary Appropriations Bill.
The Bill, now an Act, was gazetted on Tuesday despite objections by the county boss on its contents.
It allocated Sh15 billion to the newly created Nairobi Metropolitan Services for running of the four transferred functions.
However, the governor objected the reallocation, saying they were not in line with provisions of the Public Finance Management Act.
On Tuesday, he vowed to contest the move in court, describing the development as impunity.
“I rejected the Bill in a Memorandum sent to the Assembly. The law requires that the MCAs either amend it to reflect my concerns or overturn it with a two-thirds majority. This never happens. What precedent are we setting? It will not happen under my watch and I will be heading to court immediately,” he said.
The governor said this move further strengthens his resolve to pull out of the deal with President Uhuru Kenyatta that saw some functions transferred.
Last week, Sonko threatened to kick off the process of overturning the deed of transfer of county functions to the national government following what he termed frustrations and embarrassment by government officials "out to hijack the deal".
“I am now ready for consequences, even if it means I am impeached. As an elected governor, I will not betray the people for a second time. Let them do what they want but I will withdraw my signature from that Deed.”
In the Supplementary Budget passed by the Assembly on April 2, 2020, NMS was allocated Sh15 billion to perform the relinquished county functions.
They are health, planning and development, transport, public works and ancillary services. Out of the Sh15 billion, Sh1.02 billion was for fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
A sum of Sh85 million was also allocated to ward-based interventions at Sh1 million per ward.
For general health interventions related to the pandemic, Sh940 million was allocated through the Emergency Fund.
To address nonpayment of casuals in September, October and November 2019, Sh80 million has been allocated for salaries.
Under the Fire Department, a sum of Sh65 million has been allocated for training of new recruits and purchase of their uniforms.
An additional Sh90 million has also been allocated for the contract on the Integrated Revenue Management System.
Allocation for medical insurance has been increased by Sh150 million.
To cater to the National Youth Service (NYS) expenses, casuals and other garbage collection costs, Sh400 million has been allocated to Solid Waste Management under Contracted Guards and Cleaning Services.
To provide the above resources some amendments have been effected in the budget which saw the Office of the Governor and the deputy have close to Sh203 million slashed.
Some Sh98 million was cut from the budget of administrative and support services under the Office of the Governor and his deputy.
The recurrent allocation for security and safety management programme under the governor and his deputy has also been trimmed by Sh40 million.
The other department under the governor, the Disaster Management and Coordination, has had its budget has been trimmed by Sh65 million.
The recurrent allocation for General Administration and Support Services under the Education sector has also been reduced by Sh50 million.
The development allocation for Wards Development Fund will be reduced by Sh180 million, while the recurrent allocation has been reduced by Sh30 million.
The development allocation for Information and Communication Services under ICT has been reduced by Sh90 million while the Public Finance Management under the Finance and Economic Planning has been reduced by Sh220 million.
Defending the move to gazette the Supplementary Budget, Speaker of the County Assembly Beatrice Elachi said by law the institution is mandated to upload its budget.
“As an assembly we have to upload our Supplementary budgets before the Financial Year ends. We don’t want a scenario where we will be blamed for not adhering to the law. We also have pending bills to clear and now we have the coronavirus pandemic too,” she said
Elachi further said that the deed of transfer that was signed by Governor Sonko handing over county functions, the Constitution states that funds follow the functions.
“In know, governor might be angry but as an assembly, we have done what is required by the law. I have even explained to the Solicitor General that as an assembly we cannot wait for the Executive to sit and agree with NMS. As an assembly, we are also tied in between but we are doing what is required as per the deed of transfer and the constitution,” Elachi explained