Treasury allocates NMS Sh14 billion to operate until 2023

NMS director-general Major General Mohamed Badi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By OTIATO GUGUYU
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Summary

• The National Treasury has reinstated the budget of Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) signalling an extended transition of the entity beyond the August election for a new Nairobi governor.
• The national government last year took over four crucial county functions from the City Hall following concerns about how former governor Mike Sonko was running affairs of the county.
• The Treasury previously slashed the budget for the NMS in the current financial year signalling an end of the short tenure of the entity.

The National Treasury has reinstated the budget of Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) signalling an extended transition of the entity beyond the August election for a new Nairobi governor.

Budget books tabled in parliament show NMS has been allocated Sh14.4 billion for the financial year 2022/23.

The national government last year took over four crucial county functions from the City Hall following concerns about how former governor Mike Sonko was running affairs of the county.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, through Executive Order No. 3 of 2020 issued in February last year, transferred the crucial health, transport, planning and development and public works functions from the Nairobi County government to the new outfit and installed Major-General Mohamed Badi as its director-general.

The signing of the Deed of Transfer in March 2021 between Mr Sonko and the State left the county in control of less influential departments such as ICT and e-government, education and sports, agriculture and livestock, trade and co-operatives and devolution, environment and finance.

The Treasury previously slashed the budget for the NMS in the current financial year signalling an end of the short tenure of the entity.

The Treasury had cut allocation to the Office of the President to Sh8.13 billion from Sh34.59 billion in the current year, mainly following the cull of funding for the NMS, which is one of the departments in the office.

The NMS, which received Sh26.95 billion in the last financial year, had not been allocated any money for the new financial year, indicating that its operations will cease with the end of President Kenyatta’s tenure.

The resumption of funding shows the government is keen on extending the term of the entity led by Mr Badi beyond the August elections when Nairobi County is expected to elect a new governor into office.

Jubilee Party’s Richard Ngatia, ODM’s Tim Wanyonyi and Johnstone Sakaja of the United Democratic Alliance are expected to vie for the seat.

Articles 187 and 189 of the Constitution allow for the transfer of power between levels of government if the transferred function or power would be more effectively performed by the receiving government.

However, the transfer of the four functions from City Hall to the NMS has birthed numerous conflicts between it and the county, especially over the criteria of sharing the funds for the transferred functions, due to a lack of resource sharing framework by the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 and the Intergovernmental Relations Act, 2012.

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