Nairobi governor Mike Sonko’s bodyguards were withdrawn on Friday following power tussle with the recently formed Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS).
According to reports by the Nation, Sonko’s drivers were also withdrawn from his Upper Hill private offices and his home in Mua.
NMS was formed early this year, after governor Mike Sonko handed over four key county functions to the national government.
However, Sonko has been embroiled in a tussle with NMS, and recently refused to sign a budget allocating the body Ksh15 billion.
Last week, Sonko held a meeting with State House Chief of Staff in charge of Constitutional and Legal Affairs Njee Muturi and Deputy Comptroller George Kariuki, but the meeting failed to bear fruits after Sonko insisted that the budget must be done afresh.
According to Sonko, the Nairobi County Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2020 contravened provisions of the law and should be revised by the County Assembly.
Read: 800 More City Hall Employees Leave For NMS After Sonko Threatened To Terminate Nairobi Takeover Deal
“I do hereby refuse to assent to the bill for the reasons contained in the attached memorandum, and accordingly, I do hereby refer the bill back to the Assembly for consideration in accordance with section 24(3) (4) and (5) of the County Governments Act,” he said in an letter dated April 15.
In a Facebook post, the county chief cited frustration orchestrated by his political enemies as the reason for his rethinking the deal.
Read: I Never Read Nairobi Deed Of Transfer Documents, I Will Terminate It – Mike Sonko
when we started this process the President had good intentions on Nairobi but some of his greedy officers in government especially the ones who hate me have hijacked the process to embarrass and frustrate me with a lot of impunity (sic), ” said Sonko.
Sonko claimed that the whole process of the transfer of county functions was rushed and he didn’t have sufficient time to go through the documents.
He said he’ll initiate the termination process by going to court soon.
“I will not sign (resign) in fact this the time to terminate the transfer of functions deed. To date, I have not been furnished with a copy of the deed. I was not given sufficient time to even read the draft. I was just told it is a good thing on service delivery to the Great people of Nairobi as I deal with my court cases since I love you people of Nairobi and I have your interests at heart I had to accept without even going through the document thoroughly, I didn’t know it will turn against us, ” he complained.
Read: Sonko Faults PS Kibicho Over Vandalized Public Sanitisation Booth In Kibra
Recently, 800 more City Hall employees jumped ship from the County government to NMS, joining other 6052 workers who were redeployed by NMS.
On Friday, NMS Director General Mohammed Badi said the 759 inspectorate officers, 21 investigative officers, 14 sub-County administrators and six others from the administration department will be required to report to their new work stations either on Monday or Tuesday.
Those who do not show up will have absconded duty prompting action from their boss.
“The staff underlisted have been seconded to Nairobi Metropolitan Service with effect from April 22, 2020 and are hereby notified to report to their respective sub-Counties or duty station on Monday, April 27, 2020 and Tuesday between 8am and 4pm for documentation and collection of letters of secondment,” read the notice.
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