Deputy President William Ruto has revealed more details surrounding the takeover of Nairobi City County by the National Government.
The DP has spoken on the unexpected move by Governor Mike Sonko to hand over the County functions to President Uhuru Kenyatta led government.
DP Ruto disclosed that President Kenyatta met with the Council of Governors and IEBC Commissioners before the move was actualized.
“The management of Nairobi city county has been a major source of concern for GoK and Nairobians,” Dr Ruto stated.
“HE the President met with CoG & IBEC chairs in consultation with other actors to facilitate the agreements signed,” he added.
The Deputy President also urged all stakeholders to “support this effort to ensure our city functions“.
Sonko’s move to surrender key county functions to the national government was considered the least disruptive of the options available to address the leadership crisis at City Hall.
Sonko has hence defended his decision to hand over some county functions to the national government.
In a statement posted in the wee hours of Thursday morning, Sonko — who is facing corruption charges in court — said the needs of Nairobi County are unique compared to other devolved units.
“My government set out on a fact-finding mission that saw us benchmark and take lessons from other jurisdictions across the world including Washington DC in the US and Abuja in Nigeria. From these case studies, we established that cities and metropolis the size of Nairobi are best served jointly by devolved units and central governments,” he said.
