Why Nairobi should be under national government
Nairobi City Hall hosts the offices of the county government. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
I 2016, I proposed that our Constitution be amended such that the territory of Kenya is divided into the National Capital City and 46 counties.
The Bill was published at a time when temperatures had started to rise as we approached the 2017 General Election and the reaction was swift.
There were those who claimed I was acting at the behest of the Jubilee Party to stop certain people from running for governor in Nairobi.
The question of whether Nairobi should cease to be a county is here with us, once again – and there is a case for it.
When the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment Bill) (No. 2), Bill, 2016 was published on November 21, 2016, many had hoped it would lead to this awakening and it had taken me a lot of thinking. It is a Bill that had taken me a lot of time to consider and to consult with the Senate Legal Department.
In it, I proposed that our Constitution be amended such that the territory of Kenya is divided into the National Capital City and 46 counties, in short, that Nairobi be specifically designated the National Capital City, the seat of the national government and thus cease being a county as currently is the position.
ADMINISTRATIVE
I went further to propose that the President would have the power under the Constitution to appoint a Cabinet secretary to be in charge of the Capital City, to exercise such powers and perform such functions as may be delegated to him.
Further and in full realisation that the citizens of Nairobi pay tax and therefore must have representation (no tax without representation), I proposed that although there would be no senator or a county assembly in Nairobi, there would be constituencies as currently constituted such that there would be representation in the National Assembly.
Finally, I proposed that by an Act of Parliament, other relevant administrative structures would be created for the city.
FLAWLESS
The Bill was published at a time when temperatures had started to rise as we approached the 2017 General Election and the reaction was swift. There were those who claimed I was acting at the behest of the Jubilee Party to stop certain people from running for governor in Nairobi and indeed, I recall Raphael Tuju calling a press conference at Jubilee House to dissociate the party from the Bill.
I came to Nairobi in the mid-70s to study at the university and I have never left. I have watched the city grow and I recall clearly when we took services by the City Council for granted because everything was working to our general satisfaction. Buru Buru was one of the most beautiful estates to stay in and you could not erect a wall around your house — leave alone build an extension — without approval of the Director of City Planning, and it did not matter who you were! Garbage was collected and on time, transport on Kenya Bus was flawless, the lighting system worked and yes, Nairobi was the green city in the sun.
KICC
Today and except for landmarks like the Hilton and KICC, one can hardly recognise the original estates or even the city centre for that matter. By virtue of its being the seat of government, there are many national installations and government buildings and I have always thought it ridiculous that a county government in Nairobi would contemplate levying rates on national government buildings.
Considering the volatility of party politics in Kenya, one needs to only take a scenario of a governor of Nairobi being from a minority party and completely refusing to work with the government of the day. It could make it very difficult for the government. The city is therefore an entity that must be under the national government so that its operations are not embarrassed, affected or interrupted by partisan politics.
INEPTITUDE
In coming up with the Bill, I was not reinventing the wheel. There are a good number of countries in the world that have taken this path including Australia, Brazil and Nigeria with the best known being the US pertaining to Washington DC, the seat of its government. We cannot afford a county government in Nairobi interfering with the attainment of national goals either because of an intransigent governor or by reason of his sheer ineptitude. Nairobi must reflect the vision of the national government of the day.
Our Constitution has now been tested for close to eight years and it’s obvious a good number of its provisions need to be revisited with a view to making changes where necessary. One such change I submit would be to bring Nairobi as seat of the government under the auspices of the national government.
Kembi Gitura is the former Murang’a Senator
