Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson has dismissed speculation that his recent meeting with President William Ruto signaled a transfer of county functions to the National Government, using his State of the County Address at the Assembly to draw a clear distinction between collaboration and constitutional overreach.
Addressing Members of the County Assembly, diplomats, and senior officials, the Governor termed the claims a “misadventure,” insisting that Nairobi’s devolved roles would remain intact despite continued cooperation with the national administration.
“The functions bestowed upon us by the Constitution will remain county functions. We shall not transfer them. Nairobi’s position as the capital city makes intergovernmental collaboration both inevitable and necessary but not at the expense of devolution,” Sakaja said.
He referenced the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) period, describing it as costly and damaging to staff morale, and blamed it for leaving the county with about KSh 16 billion in pending bills.
Even as he pushed back against fears of a power shift, Sakaja acknowledged that structured cooperation with the National Government over the past two years has produced visible development gains.
These include the construction of classrooms and expanded road construction and recarpeting projects across the city, supported in part by national agencies such as KURA and KeRRA.
A key outcome of the renewed engagement is a joint cleanliness, roads, and water improvement programme, including a large-scale waste-management rollout set to begin in April.
Funds have been allocated, a contractor selected, and land secured in Ruai for a modern waste-processing facility expected to convert refuse into fertiliser and energy once fully operational.
Additional national support is also expected in urban roads, sewerage expansion, water supply projects, and public lighting, with stalled infrastructure projects initiated under the defunct NMS set for completion through relevant national agencies.
Sakaja maintains that the cooperation model preserves Nairobi’s constitutional mandate while enabling faster delivery of large-scale projects.
