- Mike Sonko, the embattled Nairobi governor has on Tuesday evening made a move that could see most functions of the county government being moved to the National government. In today’s happenings, the Nairobi governor surrendered functions of Nairobi county to the National government. This was under the constitutional provisions in Article 187 of the Kenyan Constitution which states that:
A function or power of government at one level may be transferred to a government at the other level by agreement between the governments if:
- The function or power would be more performed or exercised by the receiving government; and
- The transfer of the function or power is not prohibited by the legislation under which it is to be performed or exercised.
The move was because of a landmark agreement that was signed at the statehouse Tuesday. The signing was done in the presence of His Excellency the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta and Devolution Cabinet secretary Eugene Wamalwa and the Senate speaker Honorable Ken Lusaka. Also present was the attorney general Paul Kihara.
New roles
Because of this decision that governor Mike Sonko made. The national government takes up new roles in running the county activities. Areas to be controlled by the National government will include :
- Health Services
- Transport services.
- Public works.
- County government planning.
- Government Development, Utilities, and Ancillaries.
But In response, State House said that this new deal will ensure that all Nairobi residents receive all services efficiently and with ease.
“The move comes as a breakthrough in the running of county services that had ground to a halt,” the statement read.
Corruption charges against Mike Sonko
Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has been in and out of court over the past couple of months. But this time, however, but it is different because he is facing corruption charges totaling to millions of shillings. In his latest chargee which is all over the media outlets in the country. He was arrested and released on Ksh.15 million bail. Even after his release, all his bank accounts were frozen. The court also directed Mike Sonko to deposit all his travel documents to the court. The Nairobi governor in December was barred from access to his office by the court. Because of this, all matters of city hall being run from his home in Machakos or from his newly acquired Upper Hill office. Sonko is facing multiple charges with 19 counts of misappropriating Ksh 357 million from the county.
Impeachment
Already an impeachment motion is on course because of the recent happenings. Nairobi MCA Mwasere is planning to table an impeachment motion by next week so as to remove the governor from office. Despite this, it is still not yet clear if politics will play out in this impeachment motion debate once it is brought to the floor of the house. This is after the move that the governor made today. ODM had already issued a statement and they said the Party was not going to play any role influencing the impeachment motion, so everything will be determined once the bill is also brought on the floor, ODM said in a statement. But Jubilee’s party is yet to release a statement concerning the impeachment motion. But eyes are now on City hall to see how this new move will affect its operations and services.
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