Lawyer in court to stop Uhuru-Sonko handover deal
A Nairobi voter has protested the deal between state house and the Nairobi county government that will see the transfer of key functions from the devolved unit to the national government.
Robbin Karani has sued City hall, Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko and the Attorney General yesterday while challenging the deal which was signed on Tuesday.
In his filed case documents, the voter, who is a lawyer by profession, argued that the deal denies Nairobi residents a reasonable opportunity to state their case adding that the decision has a hidden motive.
He has questioned the fact that governor Sonko was the only representative of city hall yet the national government was represented by President Uhuru Kenyatta, devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa and Speaker of the Senate Kenneth Lusaka.
“Mr Sonko’s decision is unlawful, unreasonable, procedurally unfair and taken with an ulterior motive to prejudice the right of the residents of Nairobi as provided for in the constitution,” said Karani.
On Tuesday, Mr Sonko invoked Article 187 of the constitution in signing a deal with the national government over the transfer of key functions of the county namely health, transport, public works, utility, planning and development.
Under the control of the national government
The deal, which is set to be effective as from March 15, places the city-county government under the control of the national government for two years until February 25, 2022, just a few months to the next General Election.
While the move has been deemed as the solution to deteriorating services in the capital city, the Nairobi resident claimed that the procedure and threshold under Article 111 of the Intergovernmental Relations Act 2012 were inadequately satisfied to justify the agreement.
Mr Sonko has an ongoing Sh357 million graft case and was barred from accessing his office pending trial. He is also facing the threat of being impeached.
The High Court barred the Nairobi county assembly from vetting his nominee to serve as a deputy while he goes through trial.
According to the Constitution, a function or power of government at one level may be transferred to a government at the other level by agreement between the governments on two instances.
First, is when the function or power would be more effectively performed or exercised by the receiving government, and secondly, is if the transfer is not prohibited by the legislation under which it is to be performed or exercised.
The Roysambu constituency-based voter wants the High Court to stop implementation of the signed deal.
He also wants the sued parties barred from making any efforts aimed at implementing the transfer of functions agreement.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article identified the petitioner Robbin Karani as a woman. This was due to a mix up in the case documents. It has since been brought to our attention that the petitioner is a man.