Nairobi Metropolitan boss Maj. General Badi tells off Sonko over city control

Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) boss Major General Mohamed Badi has dismissed Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko’s claims that he is overstepping on his mandate.

Maj-General Badi was speaking on Monday at Uhuru Park during the issuance of letters of redeployment to all county workers who will be transferred to the Nairobi Metropolitan Services.

On Saturday, Sonko issued a statement saying that he had cancelled the planned event meant to issue the redeployment letters terming the exercise as “the height of impunity.”

The Governor claimed the Nairobi Metropolitan Services and the Public Service Commission have no current jurisdiction over employees of the Nairobi City County Government, adding that the responsibility remains with the Nairobi County Public Service Board.

“There is a Presidential Directive expressly prohibiting all public gatherings. It is therefore the height of impunity for the newly created Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), through the Public Service Commission (PSC), to purport to summon 6,052 employees of the Nairobi City County Government to KICC on Monday and Tuesday next week to collect the alleged letters of redeployment, with total disregard to the great risk they shall be exposing to these employees as the country battles with the COVID-19 pandemic that has so far claimed four (4) lives and infected over 100 people,” said Sonko

“The public gathering called by the NMS, through the PSC, scheduled for Monday, April 6th and Tuesday, April 7th, 2020 is hereby CANCELLED until further notice. This is in line with the Presidential Directives issued to combat the spread of the Corona Virus,” added Sonko.

Addressing the Governor’s claims, the NMS Director General strongly stated that he is fully in charge of all the human resource and assets, including vehicles, that were in the Health, Transport, Public Works and Urban Planning dockets handed to him.

“Governor Mike Sonko personally signed the Deed of Transfer and handed over the four key functions to the National Government and I’m the one in charge of those functions now. I officially took them over on March 18, 2020 and on top of that, the Nairobi County Assembly had a Special Sitting where they approved the handover of those functions to me,” said Maj.Gen Badi.

He added: “I have over the personnel and even the assets including vehicles as well as the offices that had been assigned to these four departments which are now under my control.”

Sonko claims the NMS is flouting some of the provisions of the Deed of Transfer by deliberately excluding him in all forms of communication.

“The Deed of Transfer that we signed is extremely clear on how communication should be conducted between the national government, the Nairobi City County government and the NMS… Worse, still, is the fact that most of this communication is done deliberately excluding me, in total contravention of the provisions of the Deed,” said Sonko.