This archive report was first published on 8 May 2020.
On May 8, 2020, the State Law Office issued an advisory to the Government printer, directing the revocation of a Gazette Notice on Nairobi County's Supplementary Appropriation Act (2020), which was deemed unlawful.
The advisory, issued by Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto, faulted Nairobi Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi for acting prematurely by publishing the law before the Assembly assented to it.
According to the advisory, the publication fell short of laid-down legal requirements, and it was therefore inconceivable how the Bill was published in the Kenya Gazette when it was still pending before the County Assembly.
As a result, the Government Printer was advised to take note of the contents of the legal opinion and remedy the situation by revoking the purported publication of the Nairobi City County Supplementary Appropriation Act, 2020.
The controversy surrounding the Gazette Notice began when Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko declined to assent to the Bill on April 15, 2020, and referred it back to the Assembly due to irregularities in its passage.
Sonko argued that the Assembly had irregularly allocated monies for delivery of services to functions that were never transferred to the new office, and that the amendments were done without the input of the County Finance Executive Committee Member, contrary to provisions of the Public Finance Management Act and the County Government Act.
