Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna on Wednesday condemned a newly signed cooperation agreement between the Nairobi County Government and Kenya national government, describing the KSh80 billion deal as an unconstitutional overreach that strips residents of their devolution rights.
Speaking at a press briefing at Parliament Buildings, Sifuna questioned how authorities arrived at the KSh80 billion figure — noting it falls short of the estimated KSh100 billion the national government already owes the county in unpaid rates and other outstanding obligations.
“The national government owes Nairobi County KSh100 billion in unpaid rates and other payables. Ruto throwing around the figure of KSh80 billion as a symbol of his generosity to the people of Nairobi is nothing but a ruse.”
Senator calls on Ruto to settle existing debts first
Sifuna urges state agencies to honour county obligations before new pacts
Rather than signing new intergovernmental agreements, Sifuna urged President William Ruto to direct state agencies to pay existing obligations owed to the county and to return devolved functions still withheld by the national government. The senator argued that the deal, formalised at a State House ceremony on Tuesday, risks recreating the conditions of the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Service NMS — a body whose tenure was marked by mounting pending bills, weak financial audits, and documented corruption.
Sifuna accused Governor Johnson Sakaja of reversing course on earlier pledges not to surrender county functions to the national government. Sakaja had, only last week in his State of the County address, dismissed reports that any transfer of roles was planned. Critics say those same transferred functions have eroded public confidence in his administration.
Pact violates constitutional safeguards, senator warns
Agreement bypasses public participation and weakens oversight bodies
At the core of Sifuna objections is what he describes as a failure to conduct mandatory public participation before executing an agreement of this scale — a requirement under Kenya 2010 Constitution. He warned the deal also complicates the oversight roles of the County Assembly, the Senate, and the Auditor General, while effectively sidelining elected county officials.
The senator pointed to the composition of the deal oversight committee as evidence of national government dominance. Of the steering committee 12 members, eight — or two-thirds — are appointees of the national government.
“From its structure, the governor plays subservient to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, making Sakaja the new Deputy Governor.”
Both Ruto and Sakaja deny power-transfer claims
Officials insist cooperation agreement does not amount to function transfer
President Ruto and Governor Sakaja have both pushed back against characterisations that the agreement amounts to a transfer of county functions to the national government. The pact is scheduled to take effect within two weeks of its signing.
Analysts note, however, that the deal governance architecture — including its committee composition and implementation timeline — raises legitimate questions about the balance of authority between Kenya two levels of government, at a time when devolution remains a politically sensitive pillar of the country constitutional order.
