Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has clarified that he will not transfer county functions to the national government.

Speaking on October 15, Sakaja said he will not follow the footsteps of Mike Sonko, who handed over some functions to the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).

Sakaja said the NMS left Nairobi County with a Ksh16 billion pending bills, which his administration is still servicing.

“There are no functions that are going to be transferred to the national government,” Sakaja said.

“The last time that happened during the previous regime it ended up disastrously. You can imagine that in two years, NMS left us a pending bill of Ksh16 billion, and you know the revenue that was being collected at that time.”

Sakaja explained that Nairobi County has taken over some functions of the national government, including the Dishi na County initiative.

He said the County has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Education to handle the school meals.

“Instead of transferring functions to the government, we have actually taken some of their functions. We have done an intergovernmental agreement with the Ministry of Education to provide meals in schools. That naturally would be a role of the national government; there was a gap and they were not able to do it,” he said.

Nairobi Collaborating with the National Government

However, he pointed out that the County needs to work with the national government in other areas like cleanliness and environmental management.

“To sort out cleanliness and the environment, there are things is need collaboration with the national government,” he added.

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Ruto Talks of Handling Sakaja Functions

The reports started after President William Ruto on Sunday, October 12, said there us deal is aimed at overhauling Nairobi into a clean, modern, and globally competitive city.

Ruto said the national government was in the final stages of signing an agreement with the private sector to support cleanup efforts.

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“I sat down with the governor and Nairobi MPs, and we came up with a plan to transform Nairobi since it is the face of the country,” Ruto said.

Ruto also revealed plans to address the road situation in Nairobi and the issue of darkness in some parts of the city.

“The third issue is that we have agreed to light up the city because there is darkness in a lot of areas, and that leads to other things. So I want to say that I have agreed that the national government will work with the county government to ensure Nairobi becomes mobile and motorable, clean, and a city in the light and not in darkness.”

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Nairobi City County Governor Johnson Sakaja during a press briefing on September 8, 2025. PHOTO/Sakaja WhatsApp Channel.