Sh10billion? Inside Sakaja’s push for loan approval with no disclosure of amount
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja is facing fresh scrutiny after City Hall submitted a request asking Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) to approve a new loan facility without disclosing the actual amount the county intends to borrow, investigations by The Informer Media Group have unearthed.
The unusual omission has raised alarms within the assembly as well as the executive wing with several MCAs accusing the executive of attempting to secure a “blank cheque” that could plunge the city deeper into debt.
According to official records seen by us, through a correspondence referenced as REF: CECM (FEP)/CKK/1289/2024 dated November 13, 2025, Sakaja, through the Nairobi County Finance and Economic Planning Charles Kerich wrote to the Clerk of the Nairobi County Assembly seeking for approval of a short-term borrowing of a commercial loan.
Kerich’s letetr received by the Speaker Ken Ng’ondi’s led assembly on November 18, 2025 says the monies are for “cash management purposes only.”
And without specifying the exact amount the executive wants to borrow or from which bank the commercial facility will be sourced from, the county minister said the “borrowing shall not exceed five (5) per cent of the last audited revenues and shall be paid within a year from the date on which it was borrowed,” the letter to the assembly reads in part.
And in sharp contradiction, a day later, the request paper was laid before the assembly by Minority Leader Anthony Kiragu saying the short-term loan borrowing request is intended to settle “salaries and salaries related expenditures by the Nairobi County Executive,” the notice to the assembly referenced as NCCA/TJ/PL/2025(82) reads in part.
In a glaring contradiction, whereas the executive through Kerich said the loan was cash management purposes, assembly Clerks office the loan is earmarked to clear staff salaries and unexplained “salary related expenditures”
Sources within City Hall say the Executive is racing against time to plug widening budget deficits caused by falling revenues, ballooning recurrent expenditure, and mounting pending bills. However, insiders admit the administration has been unable—or unwilling—to reveal the loan figure, citing “ongoing negotiations” with potential financiers. Critics argue that this explanation is inadequate and violates public finance principles that demand transparency before any debt is contracted.
The notice was then committed to the assembly Finance, Budget and Accounts Committee.
When contacted for comment yesterday via mail and short text messages, Sakaja did not respond to our inquiries on the actual amount his administration seeks to borrow, the purpose and the counties last audited revenue on which the five per cent borrowing capping his office pegged on.
However, Nairobi Assembly Speaker Ng’ondi confirmed having received the request from the governor’s office.
The request was committed to the relevant committee for consideration and subsequent table it’s report which shall be debated by the assembly. It is by resolution of the assembly which will determine whether it is in conformity with the laws and Public Finance and Management Act of 2012. No approval has been given but it is just procedural that the paper was laid before the assembly,” Ng’ondi observed.
MCAs who spoke off the record say they were shocked that the request came with neither a loan ceiling nor a repayment framework. They warn that approving such a vague proposal could expose taxpayers to unpredictable liabilities, especially at a time the county’s debt portfolio is murky, with incomplete audits and stalled capital projects whose funding remains questionable.
Financial experts note that borrowing without a declared amount would breach the Public Finance Management Act, which requires counties to specify the quantum, purpose, repayment terms, and impact of any proposed loan. “You cannot approve what you cannot quantify,” one senior fiscal analyst said, describing City Hall’s request as “procedurally dangerous.”
The push has sparked speculation that the administration may be seeking to consolidate multiple short-term facilities or restructure existing debts under undisclosed terms. With resistance building, MCAs are demanding full disclosure before the matter is tabled again.
Although Sakaja’s borrowing plan remains shrouded in secrecy, fueling concerns that Nairobi’s financial crisis may be deeper than City Hall admits, impeccable sources intimated that the executive wants to borrow Sh10billion from Sidian Bank.
The Nairobi County budget for 2025-2026 totals Sh44.6 billion, with Sh31.2billion allocated for recurrent spending and Sh13.4 billion for development.
This comes even as Nairobi County Chief Officer for Finance Asha Abdi has written to the office of the Controller of Budget (CoB) Dr. Margaret Nyakang’o requesting CoB to authorise Sh230million through exchequer to two privately contracted garbage collectors, Ace Global Limited and Lutong Machinery Resolution Company Limited.
Our investigations have since established that all the privately contracted garbage collectors by the Sakaja’s led administration have since downed tools due to owed outstanding arrears amounting to over Sh600million.
According to planned payment vouchers and official records seen by The Informer Media Group, if Nyakang’o’s office approves the requested payout, Ace Global Limited and Lutong Machinery Resolution Company Limited will receive Sh79,419,161 and Sh150,338,000 respectively.
“We kindly request your office to authorise the payment of Ksh79,419,161 through our exchequer request REF: NRB/FIN/1/70/2025/2026 to Ace Global Limited and Sh150,338,000 through exchequer request REF: NRB/FIN/1/72/2025/2026 to Lutong Machinery Resolution Company Limited,” Asha told CoB’s office vide a letter dated September 8, 2025 referenced NCC/FIN/CGW/509/2025.
The planned payout to Ace Global Limited and Lutong has sparked internal inter-departmental strife with some officials recommending phased out approach in clearing outstanding debts owed to the garbage contractors through partial but staggered partial payments to all to ensure their full resumption.
Early this month, Sakaja’s administration dropped Co-operative Bank of Kenya as its principal banker for Sidian Bank effectively withdrawing cash pipeline of over 135 Nairobi county ran health facilities from the Gideon Muriuki’s led tier one bank to Chege Thumbi’s budding entity.
Through a circular dated November 5, 2025, Nairobi County acting County Secretary and Head of County Public Service Geoffery Akumali gave a two days compliance deadline to all officers in charge of Nairobi County health services to effect the new decree.
Consequently, they were directed to submit the completed account opening forms to Charles Kerich, the County Executive Committee Member for Finance and Economic Planning by Friday, November 7, 2025.
The letter by AKumali referenced NCC/CS/GA/1011 cites a decision taken at the 69th County Executive Committee meeting dated October 28, 2025, which “resolved to designate Sidian Bank as its Principal Banker.”
Sidian Bank is among one of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) licensed financial institutions appointed in collection and remitting Social Health Authority (SHA) and Affordable Housing Project funds.
“Sidian Bank only facilitates collections, remitting directly to SHA accounts. We do not hold or manage SHA funds,” a past statement by Sidian Bank read in part.
