Activist Okiya Omtatah in court to oppose city takeover
Bernice Mbugua @BerniceMuhindi
Activist Okiya Omtatah and Nairobi resident Robinson Murimi Karani yesterday moved to court separately to challenge the transfer of some of Nairobi County government functions to the National government.
The two want Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko, the county government, national Executive and the Attorney General barred from enforcing, implementing or effecting the agreement made on Tuesday.
“The governor was not authorised to make the decision and he denied Nairobi residents and the county government a reasonable opportunity to make their case,” said Karani in court documents.
The President invoked the provisions of article 187 to enter into an agreement to transfer functions of Nairobi County Government namely Health, Transport, Public Works, Utilities, Planning and development to the National government.
However, Karani argues that the decision was unlawful and taken with ulterior motive to prejudice the legal rights of Nairobi residents.
Omtatah on the other hand wants the gazette notice announcing the transfer of the said function to be suspended.
“The removal of the key functions leaves Nairobi City County Government as an empty shell, and that is tantamount to dissolving the County Government without reference/adherence to Article 192 of the Constitution,” he argues in court documents.
He also says having been suspended from office by the High Court, the Nairobi governor lacked capacity to transact any official county business.
