Nairobi County Assembly approves 21-member committee to review Ruto-Sakaja Ksh.80B deal

The Nairobi County Assembly has unanimously approved the formation of a 21-member Ad Hoc Committee to review the Cooperation Agreement between the County and the National Government and evaluate the role of the House in its implementation.

The committee will begin sittings immediately, hold public participation sessions, and submit its report within 11 days.

During a special assembly sitting on Friday, members commended the agreement, describing it as a crucial step toward enhancing service delivery for Nairobi residents.

The Ad Hoc committee however faced questions over its legitimacy from Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai who opposed its formation, describing it as a duplication of roles.

“We need to realise that the actual agreement has not been seen by members…its wrong for us to come to the House to compose an Ad Hoc committee to debate a matter which can easily be debated by sectoral committees,” said Alai.

Minority Leader Anthony Kiragu stated: “The honourable member has not taken time to understand that this committee has a duty and a timeline of 11 days. This is just to ratify, look and collect public views and bring a report to this House.”

The Ad Hoc committee has been tasked with conducting public participation sessions across the county and assessing the impact of the agreement on the budget-making process for the current and upcoming financial years.

In response to concerns that the agreement might usurp the powers of the House, Kiragu – who is the Waithaka Ward Representative - sought to reassure members and allay those fears.

“It’s a collaboration, not the transfer of services. We have collaborated with the national government before, it is a historic moment that the drafters of the constitution envisioned that Nairobi should and must collaborate with the national government. We as an assembly retain our oversight role. That is going nowhere,” he stated.

The agreement, which provides for collaboration between the two levels of government, will inject an additional Ksh.80 billion in funding aimed at accelerating infrastructure and service delivery projects; with that, the assembly unanimously voted to establish the Ad Hoc committee.