Nairobi News

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Bye bye governor, Nairobi to be run by president in proposed law


Nairobi will in future not be a county if a Bill before Parliament that seeks to amend the constitution and reduce the devolved units to 46, becomes law.

The city will be excluded from the ambit of the county governments and be placed under the leadership of the National Government, according to The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill.

The Bill authored by Deputy Speaker Kembi Gitura further seeks to establish Nairobi as the National Capital City, as opposed to the current case where it is the country’s capital city.

“There shall be a National Capital City known as Nairobi, which shall be the seat of the national Government,” the bill that is set for introduction in the Senate reads.

The president shall be empowered to nominate a cabinet secretary with approval of the National Assembly, to head the City.

DELEGATED POWERS

The cabinet secretary shall exercise powers and perform functions as delegated to that office by the president.

The National Capital City shall comprise of constituencies for purposes of the election of MPs, in what seems to be a deliberate measure to ensure majority of the lawmakers support it.

That means, other elective seats –senator, woman representative and nominated lawmakers- within the county will not be affected by the proposed changes to the law.

“The Bill is alive to the power of the people and their right to be represented. As such, this right will continue to be fulfilled through the election of representatives to the National Assembly,” the bill
reads.

Critics of the current bloated parliament will interpret reduction of the elected leaders as a cost-cutting measure, given that the country is struggling with a huge wage bill that has affected its operations.

The nominated legislators are provided by Parliamentary political parties according to their proportion in parliament to represent special interests including youths, persons with disabilities and
workers.

Article 6 of the constitution amended to indicate that the territory of Kenya is divided into the National Capital City and the counties and not the devolved units alone as it is currently the situation.