By Article 187 of the Kenyan Constitution of 2010, which addresses the transfer of duties and authority between the national and county governments, the national government assumed control of the county government operations on February 25, 2020.
The Nairobi county acknowledged internal limitations regarding the effective discharge of its functions and that some of these would be better performed by the national government in the transfer deed, which was witnessed by Senator Johnson Sakaja, County Speaker Elachi, Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa, Senate Speaker Lusaka, and the AG Paul Kihara. The following services were transferred in the aforementioned deed:
Nairobi Metropolitan Services, a citizen-focused public agency, was established on March 9th, 2020, as a result of a deal that transferred four key responsibilities from the Nairobi City County Government to the National Government.
The Director-General of NMS is Major General Mohamed Badi of the Kenya Air Force, who is deputies by Enosh Momanyi.
Mission and responsibilities of Nairobi Metropolitan Services
According to Executive Order No.1 of 2020 (updated), the Executive Office of the President gave the Nairobi Metropolitan Services the following responsibilities.
- County physical planning and development,
- county public works, utilities, and ancillary services,
- county health services, and county transportation services
Following are the directorates under which NMS is divided to carry out the functions:
- Medical Services
- Transportation, Public Works, and Roads
Housing, - Land Use, and Urban Development
Water, sanitation, and the environment - Budgeting and Planning
Delivery, Compliance, and Enforcement
Legal Assistance
The general was given the mission of:
- putting a stop to the county’s pervasive corruption and eliminating the “cartels” that had impeded the capital’s development.
- simplification of urban renewal initiatives
- Regeneration of Nairobi, with a focus on resuming garbage collection and putting a solid waste management strategy into action.
- reinstating the usage of traffic signals to reduce congestion in the city centre
- Put the efficient garbage collection and disposal system into operation.
The public service board was in charge of managing county issues while the Kenya Revenue Authority is responsible for collecting county taxes.
For three months, the Public Service Commission was responsible for paying the salaries of the county’s employees. This was to allow the county’s payroll to be reorganized by the transfer of responsibilities to the NMS.
The county legislators agreed that several functions connected to legal services, purchasing, auditing, inspecting, sub-county administration, information technology, managing public finances, and human resources should be included in the ancillary services transferred to the NMS.
Aside from its numerous accomplishments, NMS has won praise for its work eradicating vast amounts of trash, cleaning waterways, building affordable housing, extending the road network, paving roads, uplifting slums, and building hospitals and healthcare facilities.
But a ton of work needs to be done still.
Nairobi Metropolitan Services would receive Sh18.9 billion in total funding. According to the document, ongoing expenses would cost Sh13.5 billion, while development costs will be Sh5.4 billion.
Since the National Treasury has not set aside any funds for the Badi-led state agency for the upcoming fiscal year, City Hall’s proposed NMS budget allocation conflicts with the National Assembly.
The absence of an allocation means that NMS operations will end with the election of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The National Treasury has removed funding for NMS from the new budget, signalling the end of its brief existence.
Expanding, renovating, and maintaining road networks will be a top priority for NMS in the areas of transport, infrastructure, and public works to improve connectivity and pedestrian safety.
Along with managing NMT facilities, it will also supervise the building of pedestrian and vehicular bridges, as well as public amenities.
NMS has set up an electronic medical system (EMR). The system helps health facility processes be automated, digitalized, and computerized.
To keep Nairobi clean, NMS has also concentrated on effective waste collection and transportation, waste recycling, and public education on waste management.