Sonko issues new demands before striking deal
What you need to know:
- Top among the conditions is for NMS to henceforth stop executing certain functions which are at the centre of his feud with the national government that he declared in July.
- Mr Sonko further wants the Major General Mohammed Badi-led office to keep away from pending bills and contracts incurred by City Hall prior to the signing of the Deed of Transfer of Functions in February.
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has set out a raft of tough conditions that he wants met before a deal can be struck in the ongoing talks over his dispute with the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).
This is after the governor agreed to Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto’s request for a 30-day extension to the ongoing talks over the dispute between City Hall and NMS, which started last month.
Top among the conditions is for NMS to henceforth stop executing certain functions which are at the centre of his feud with the national government that he declared in July.
This include interference with the inspectorate and enforcement department, ambulance services, official residence of the governor as well as the governor’s ceremonial vehicle.
Mr Sonko further wants the Major General Mohammed Badi-led office to keep away from pending bills and contracts incurred by City Hall prior to the signing of the Deed of Transfer of Functions in February.
The governor said NMS must adhere to the conditions for the next 30 days awaiting resolution of the dispute between the two parties.
“In the spirit of goodwill by either parties geared towards arriving at an amicable and sustainable solution, I request that the departments or agencies tasked with implementation of functions captured in the notice of dispute be advised to refrain from initiating or undertaking further actions that may jeopardise the outcome of the process we have commenced,” said Governor Sonko.
He maintained that NMS must follow the law in the execution of the transferred function. “City Hall and NMS were supposed to work in collaboration. I have cleared bending bills from Sh64 billion to now Sh20 billion and we have clear plans of clearing the entire amount,” he said.
Further, the City Hall boss wants Kenya Revenue Authority to stop rolling out a new revenue management system for the county.
“Specifically, the Kenya Revenue Authority should shelve their current plans to introduce a new revenue management system for the Nairobi City County Government, an undertaking which would be outside this scope of work as outlined in Article 5.5 of the Deed of Transfer,” reads in part the August 24, 2020 letter to Mr Ogeto.
