New details have emerged about a secret meeting between Deputy President William Ruto and Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko that reportedly influenced his decision to terminate the Nairobi handover process.
The two leaders reportedly held a meeting at the DP’s Karen home which lasted until midnight on Tuesday, April 21.
The two are said to have discussed county and national affairs before Sonko, on Wednesday, April 22, announced that he was to commence the process of terminating the transfer of key Nairobi County functions to the National Government.
“It is true the meeting happened and it was known to the president. We discussed many issues affecting the county and the country at large,” the publication quoted the county boss.
It was disclosed that Sonko was picked up by Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi from his Upper Hill office for the Karen meeting.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the county boss cited frustrations, claiming that cartels had been roped in to scuttle his administration.
He noted that a number of cartels close to the president were out to ruin the deal between his county and the state, which had been planned out of good intentions for Nairobi residents.
“When we started this process, the president had good intentions for Nairobi but some of his greedy officers in government, especially the ones who hate me, have hijacked the process to embarrass and frustrate me with a lot of impunity. I will not sign, in fact, this the time I’ll terminate the transfer of functions deed.
“To date, I have not been furnished with a copy of the deed. I was not given sufficient time to even read the draft,” stated Sonko.
“I was just told it is a good thing on service delivery to the great people of Nairobi as I deal with my court cases since I love you people of Nairobi and I have your interests at heart. I had to accept without even going through the document thoroughly, I didn’t know it will turn against us,” he added.
On Tuesday, February 25, Sonko and Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa in concurrence with Uhuru, signed an agreement in which functions of the Nairobi County Government were handed to the National Government.
The government took over the functions of the Nairobi County Government including; county health services, county transport services, county public works, utilities, and ancillary services as well as county government planning and development.
