This archive report was first published on 8 May 2020.
On April 27, 2020, the Kenya Gazette published the Nairobi City County Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2020, allocating Sh15 billion to the Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS). However, this move has been met with opposition from Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko.
According to a letter dated May 6, 2020, Solicitor General Ken Ogeto advised the Government Printer to revoke the bill's publication into an Act, citing that it was not assented to in either of the ways stipulated in the law, rendering the Act unlawful.
On April 2, 2020, the Nairobi County Assembly passed the Bill, but Governor Sonko declined to assent to it, accusing the MCAs of allocating funds to functions that were not transferred to the NMS.
Speaker Beatrice Elachi, however, set aside Governor Sonko's Memorandum and sent back the original Bill for his assent, arguing that she had the latitude to rule on the memorandum without subjecting it to relevant committee of the House for voting.
However, Solicitor General Ogeto argued that a County Assembly Standing Order cannot be used to sidestep mandatory requirements of an Act of Parliament, citing a 2019 ruling in a case pitting Machakos County Assembly and Governor Alfred Mutua.
