New deal is the latest attempt to restore lost glory to troubled city

When President Uhuru Kenyatta and Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko agreed that the national government should take over some of the functions of the county government this month, it was not a new concept.

Though such a move is provided for in the Constitution, under the 1963-2010 Constitution, Daniel arap Moi also invoked similar powers and placed Nairobi City Council under the of the national government.

In 1983, President Moi, through Local Government minister Moses Mudavadi, dissolved Mayor Nathan Kahara’s council and formed the Nairobi City Commission, first headed by Mr Timothy Ramtu, followed by Dr Eric Mngola. These were less controversial.

The stormy ones were headed by Mr Fred Gumo and Nairobi Kanu branch chairman, Daniel Kongo. Under the two commissions, prime city plots were allocated to influential people while the authority’s services to residents deteriorated.

They were characterised by the same ills that President Moi wanted to cure – corruption and land grabbing, among others.

A mayor was elected during the 1992 elections, a Ford Asili candidate, but nothing much improved.

Former Westlands MP Fred Gumo who served for four years told the Sunday Nation that the commission was different from the current arrangement.

“There was no mayor or councillors, they were all sent home. They had been dissolved because they were not delivering,” he said.

The commission had seven members who also included the Nairobi provincial commissioner.

“Ideally, we were under the minister for Local Government but we were independent,” he said

The only time services improved was after Narc came to power when the indefatigable John Gakuo, now deceased, turned the fortunes of the city around.

The advent of devolution in 2013 under the 2010 Constitution did not bring much improvement under governors Dr Evans Kidero and Mike Sonko.

The formation of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services office, therefore, headed by Maj Gen Mohammed Abdalla Badi as Director-General, follows many calls to have functions of the county taken over by the national government.

In April, 2008, President Mwai Kibaki, through a presidential decree, created the Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development with the idea of creating a Nairobi city with a 24-hour economy complete with its own special security force, in the same way as New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other big cities around the world.

The first holder of the ministerial office, the late Mutula Kilonzo, promised to do much when he was appointed.

He, however, never lived up to his promise. The same fate followed his successors Njeru Githae and Jamleck Kamau.

And when Mr Kibaki was awarding best performing government agencies in 2012, it came as no surprise when the ministry was ranked among the least performing.

However, there have been many attempts to have Nairobi County collapsed and have it moved back to the national government.

The clamour started in 2016, three years into devolution, with different people and organisations calling for the head of City Hall to be appointed, and not elected.

The calls have been informed by successful examples of countries that have a system similar to the current one in Kenya with prime examples being Washington D.C., Abuja, Canberra in Australia and New Delhi.

Former Murang’a senator Kembi Gitura in 2016 drafted a Bill – the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill – that sought to amend the Constitution to allow for the dissolution of Nairobi County and replace it with an administration under the National Government.

The then Deputy Speaker of the Senate wanted the city administration placed under a Cabinet Secretary who would discharge the functions delegated by the Office of the President.

This would have seen City Hall turned into a metropolis without a governor, senator or members of county assembly.

“There shall be a national capital city known as Nairobi, which shall be the seat of the national government,” read a section of the proposed law.

However, the Bill stalled at the first reading stage of the Senate after Parliament adjourned in June for the August 2017 electiona.

The failure of Mr Gitura’s Bill did not deter Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot from coming up another Bill – Dissolution Bill – in 2018 calling for a Cabinet secretary, appointed by the President, head Nairobi.

Mr Cheruiyot wanted Nairobi County dissolved, arguing it was a focal centre that housed several international agencies and as such should be managed by the national government, which has the capacity to solve a majority of the problems facing the city.

To this effect, he proposed the amendment of Article Six, clause one of the Constitution to indicate Kenya is divided into national capital city and counties where the capital city shall be the seat of the national government.

“When we identify regional problems and allocate budgets the same way as other counties, we are getting it all wrong,” said Cheruiyot.

Last year, Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki called for the county to be dissolved and its operations taken over by the national government.

The Jubilee governor said the capital city was too important a place to be left in the hands of a governor and it is often an inconvenience for the President, who has to stoop down to the governor for consultation before implementing his agenda.

The governor argued there is a lot of duplication of roles between City Hall and the national government.

Mr Njuki proposed the city to be run by a mayor and departmental heads answerable to the national government as the only way to depoliticise the running of the county.

He cited the US seat of political power, Washington DC, which is not classified as part of the over 50 States.

“We cannot have a county like Nairobi as it is a metropolitan area. It does not qualify to be a county,” said Mr Njuki.

Moreover, the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) task force report was also silent on the position of a governor and a senator for the capital city.

The report recommended that Nairobi be accorded a special status as the national capital and seat of UN and other diplomatic representation.

In January this year, the Nairobi County Assembly unanimously called for the revival of the Nairobi Regeneration Committee to take over the running of City Hall operations with Governor Mike Sonko barred from office by the court until determination of a Sh357 million graft case facing him.

The ward representatives said the committee would work alongside members of the Nairobi County Executive.

Speaker Beatrice Elachi said the committee’s immediate areas of concern would be the clearance of pending bills, water rationing and the garbage menace.

Former Dagoretti South MP Dennis Waweru and former Nairobi County Education executive Janet Ouko have also gone public with their call to President Uhuru Kenyatta to begin the process of dissolving Nairobi County by expediting the formation of a commission of inquiry.

The leaders said Nairobi residents were getting a raw deal, with services grounded and most departments at the county incapacitated with incessant suspension and sacking of staff.