He has been the new sheriff in town for almost nine months with the task of overseeing four core Nairobi County Functions.
With the establishment of a new entity the Nairobi Metropolitan Service, Major General Mohammed Badi was tasked by President Uhuru Kenyatta to return Nairobi back the once ‘Green City Under the Sun.’
After Governor Mike Sonko signed the Deed of Transfer of functions from City Hall to the National Government, Badi is now in charge of county health services, transport services, planning and development, public works, utilities and ancillary services transferred to the national government for a renewable period of 24 months.
“My determination is to see a change in Nairobi within two years of my tenure. There is nothing like don’t in the military, you have to achieve it,” he said.
Badi who has served in the military for 39 years, once said during an Interview at Citizen Tv on October 28, 2020, that work has to be delivered noting there is no breathing space as the President pops in anytime to inspect the projects.
The President has thrown his weight behind NMS, always gracing important events in Nairobi accompanied by Badi as they launched development projects.
Last month at Pumwani, the Head of State requested Nairobi residents to support ‘Mzee wa Kipara’ General Badi as he strives to bring development and service to the capital.
Despite having Uhuru’s blessings, Badi is still having trouble that can hamper his bid to change the face of Nairobi.
This week, Governor Sonko publicly hit back at NMS in his quest to deny the entity funds, vowing he will not bow to intimidation to release the money to an outfit he claimed is not recognized by law.
“The dark days are over. We will not allow anybody to breach the law. Personally going forward, I will not allow any intimidation from anyone,” Sonko said.
Without access to funds, NMS has started to face a hard time in fulfilling its core mandate.
Unpaid staff salaries
Close to 6,800 employees of Nairobi County seconded NMS have been faced with challenges accessing their salaries after the National Treasury last month declined to release money for payment of salaries.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani declined a request by NMS to release the funds until the ongoing dispute between the office and Governor Sonko is resolved.
Already health workers under NMS held demonstrations demanding their salaries, noting that they had been put at the centre of wrangles between NMS and City Hall.
NMS wants Sonko’s administration to hand over staff payroll, something which City Hall has claimed its not part of the transferred functions.
City hall has maintained that it is the sole custodian of the staff payroll since the Nairobi County Public Service Board it the employer.
Unsubmitted contracts
Another nightmare the NMS is having is the hindrance of road development projects in various wards in the county.
This according to Major General has been caused by City Hall’s refusal to handover contracts that had been awarded before NMS took over county functions in March.
On Wednesday, NMS boss told the Senate’s Road and Transport committee that this is the biggest tussle his office has with the Nairobi county government.
“Most firms are crying because they have not been paid for the jobs already done,” Badi said.
The unpaid arrears fall under the pending bills which are also in the contest.NMS had raised concerns that they would want to take over the pending bills of the functions they oversee.
However, the Nairobi County Government insists that finance was not a transferred function thus remains under Sonko’s administration.
Lack of health fundsNMS is also facing a challenge to support the health sector, a function which they have several ongoing projects including setting up 25 hospitals in the informal settlements.
The Badi headed office has accused City Hall of declining to release Sh253 million donated by the national government and partners to support level 2 and 3 health facilities.
However, Governor Sonko this week accused NMS and Treasury of colluding to deny his officers codes to access the IFMIS in order to get the funds.
“They have blocked us and denied my officers IFMIS codes that would have enabled us to access the money,” Sonko told the Senate health committee.
It is now not clear how NMS will manage to support the hospitals that required the funds to start running once complete.