Drama unfolded on Thursday during a Senate committee meeting as Governor Johnson Sakaja implicated MPs and senators in the financial turmoil at City Hall, including pending bills.
In a series of intriguing revelations, the county chief informed the Senate Finance Committee that some lawmakers, who are tasked with overseeing his administration, have been pressuring him and his officers to make payments to certain firms.
“Some senators and MPs are pushing for certain companies, certain law firms to be paid. I will not mention names because that is not why we are here,” he said.
The county chief appeared before the committee to explain the Sh16 billion pending bills incurred by the now-defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Service and the reason behind the accumulation of garbage in the capital.
Sakaja was provoked by nominated Senator Tabitha Mutinda’s remarks, which seemed to hold the governor accountable for the unpaid bills. Mutinda, who serves as the vice chairperson of the committee, pressed Sakaja to explain why his administration had not paid the garbage collection firms currently on strike.
“Can you tell us why these contractors have not been paid?” Mutinda posed.
This infuriated the governor.
“Give full disclosure of what you are saying,” Sakaja said.
The committee members burst out with a barrage of questions, sending the meeting into disarray.
Chairman Ali Roba (Mandera) attempted to control the rising temperatures as members told to allow the governor to disclose what he meant.
“Chairman, we will not allow you to muzzle the governor. We will allow you to get away with this,” Kakamega Senator Bonny Khalwale said.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna chimed in.
“This is the week of saying the truth in the senate. We will not allow you to get away with this,” he said.
Sifuna addressed allegations that he owns a garbage collection firm doing business with the Nairobi government, asking the governor to confirm or deny these claims to the committee. Khalwale also raised concerns about garbage collection during the meeting.
“The statement made by the governor of Nairobi is very profound. Could he tell us the names of companies currently doing this work of waste management?” the Kakamega Senator said.
“He said that it was a serious matter of conflict of interest for MPs and senators who are charged with oversight to do business with Nairobi, and then they turn around to make the governor look bad,” he added.
Without mentioning names, Sakaja disclosed that he and his officers in the finance department have endured pressure from MPs and senators.
“I have not gone to the register of companies to confirm the beneficial owners of these companies or who owns them, but you have been pushing for payments,” he said.
“In fact, I pity my Finance CEC here who has been receiving calls and messages from MPs and senators.”
Yesterday, it was revealed that some garbage collection firms have ceased operations due to delayed payments by county governments. These include firms owed millions by the now-defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS).
The county boss explained that his administration cannot pay the Sh16 billion debt left by NMS, as it was a national government entity. Currently, City Hall has pending bills amounting to over Sh107 billion.
He requested the committee to summon State House comptroller Katoo Ole Metito to provide the status of these pending payments. However, Sakaja faced scrutiny from the committee over his seemingly casual responses.
The committee questioned whether he had verified if the projects for which NMS owed billions were completed. They gave the county boss 14 days to provide comprehensive responses before appearing again, this time alongside Ole Metito and Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, who is auditing the NMS books.
