Sakaja: Why push to drop Nairobi as a county in BBI bill was shelved

The report recommended that the national government through the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) is in-charge of four key functions.

Parliament was to enact laws to make the NMS-county deal permanent.

But the amended report released in November retained Nairobi as a county with a governor and MCAs. Mr Sakaja revealed the intrigues behind the retention in an exclusive interview with the Nation.

He said the changes to retain Nairobi were made after a meeting in Naivasha on November 1 that was attended by President Kenyatta, Mr Odinga, Minority Leader James Orengo, National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya and Senate Majority Leader Samuel Poghisio.

“I initially raised the issue with the two principals but were later joined by the other leaders on Sunday night at Naivasha before the press conference with MPs on Monday. After making the case, they promised that changes would be made,” revealed Mr Sakaja.

The leaders argued that the problem with Nairobi was leadership and it was unfair to deny the people of the city a right to enjoy devolution just because of a “few bad apples".

Permanent solution

“We argued that we cannot resolve a temporary problem with a permanent solution. You should not punish people because of their leaders. If they had a problem with Governor Mike Sonko or Evans Kidero, that is those two. Others may not be like that. Nairobi is almost 10 per cent of the country’s population. Why deny such people a chance to enjoy devolution?,” he said. 

There was clamour for Nairobi to be like Washington in the US or Canberra in Australia which are run by national governments.

“But those cities have a history. All started as capitals and were not converted from devolved units to capitals run by national governments like we wanted to do to Nairobi,” said Sakaja.

After that meeting, Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula also picked it up with the technical team the following week.

Nairobi County has 85 wards represented by MCAs. It consists of 17 constituencies each represented by a lawmaker in the National Assembly.

"What Nairobi needs is resources and goodwill. Look at what NMS is doing just because of working well with the government. We need leaders who can make tough decisions to restructure staff and improve revenue. Nairobi should raise close to Sh100 billion annually according to a review by audit firms,” said Mr Sakaja.

The senator also admitted that he was in Kemsa CEO’s office when briefcase companies were awarded Covid-19 billions as some witnesses told a parliamentary commission, but said he was there as chairman of the then Covid-19 committee.