Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has 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.
He claims that with this in mind, and in his capacity as governor, he initiated discussions with the national government with a view to approaching service delivery with both County and State resources.
“It is this consultative process that led to the crafting of the historic and comprehensive agreement that we signed on Tuesday handing over the management of some of the functions of Nairobi County Government to the national government,” he added.
The embattled governor says he is convinced that the agreement, which was signed in the presence of President Uhuru Kenyatta, will not only help enhance service delivery in the city but also reposition Nairobi as the region’s economic hub.