Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) boss Major General Mohamed Badi on Monday downplayed claims that he was overstepping his role.
According to Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, Badi did not communicate his intentions to transfer 6,052 employees from City Hall to NMS.
In a letter referring to Badi and Public Service Commission (PSC) intentions, Sonko said the alleged transfers were the “height of impunity”.
On Saturday, Sonko called off the two day meeting at KICC where the employees collected letters of secondment earlier on today.
The meetings, he said, flouted the government directive banning social gatherings.
“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.
“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,” said Sonko.
But according to Badi, the county boss who is facing graft charges, signed the deed of transfer which saw him take charge of the four vital county functions and the assests, respectively.
“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 taken 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.”
Questions linger about what happens to over 4,000 city hall employees whose names were not published by the PSC.
Kenya County Government Workers’ Union is also of the view that the staff secondment should be suspended until the spread of COVID-19 is contained.
“We are astonished with the great speed at which that the issue of transfer of functions is being implemented without compliance with the law and properly laid down procedures.
“The responsibility of communicating the issue of secondment vests with their employer, Nairobi City County Government, and not the Public Service Commission,” the union said.
Last week, MCAs allocated NMS Sh15 billion and slashed that of the governor and his deputy.
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