Defunct NMS gets extra Sh3.2bn to clear pending bills
(From left) Nairobi Metropolitan Services director-general Mohamed Badi, governor Johnson Sakaja and deputy governor Njoroge Muchiri after the handover of Deeds of Transfer back to the county on September 30, 2022. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NMG
The defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has been allocated an additional Sh3.2 billion to settle pending bills, opening a fresh controversy on who will spend the money now that the entity does not exist.
The additional allocation, which pushes NMS’ total budget for the current financial year ending June this year to Sh17.6 billion, comes a month after President William Ruto, in an executive order, expunged the agency from the list of agencies under his office.
A week ago, the County Government of Nairobi indicated that it would fire 700 enforcement officers that were hired by the defunct entity in 2021 even as President William Ruto, in an executive order, marked the end of an agency that became synonymous with the administration of former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The previous administration of former President Uhuru Kenyatta had allocated NMS a total of Sh14.4 billion for the four functions that had been transferred to it including health, transport, public works, utilities and ancillary services, county planning and development services.
With the allocation, it means that NMS will have received a total of Sh77 billion in three financial years since its creation in March 2020.
The National Treasury said that a big chunk of the additional allocation, Sh2.96 billion, would be used to cater for pending bills carried forward from Financial Year 2021/22 while the remaining Sh211 million would be used for the completion of five small claims court in Mukuru, Dagoretti, Huruma, Kasarani and Mihang’o.
Part of the Sh211 million will also be used for the settlement of the verified pending bills.
In the two years that it has existed, NMS has accumulated pending bills for such projects as the renovation of Uhuru and Central parks as well as the building of hospitals and tarmacking of roads in slums.
However, with the non-existence of NMS, it is not very clear who will spend the money, with lawyers noting that, legally, the money should have been allocated to its successor, Nairobi City Government.
“In law, if NMS has ceased to exist, it is the Nairobi Government that would be given the money and told what the money is for,” said Charles Kanjama, an advocate of the High Court.
Mr Kanjama, however, agreed that in case of some expenses that had already been incurred, then it is only NMS that should be allocated the money.
Dr Martin Masinde, a Senior Deputy Director Parliamentary Budget Office at Kenyan Parliament, agreed that if the expenses were incurred during the existence of NMS Treasury could spend the money from the source.
“If the pending bills were legit and the companies are known, nothing stops Treasury from disbursing money from the source,” said Masinde.
The additional allocation—which comes after the National Government handed back transferred functions to Nairobi County— is for both recurrent (Sh1.86 billion) and development (Sh1.3 billion) spending by the NMS for the Financial Year ending June.
The tenure of NMS came to an end last year, with the national government handing back the four functions to the county Government of Nairobi.
