NMS to be funded by National Treasury and not City Hall anymore
Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) will no longer depend on Nairobi County government for budgetary allocations but from the national government.
The new office will now be receiving funding, under the office of the President, directly from the National Treasury.
BUDGET ESTIMATES
To set the ball rolling, NMS has been allocated Sh27.9 billion by the National Treasury for its operations in the coming financial year 2020/2021.
In the national government budget estimates (proposed amendments) for the financial year ending June 30, 2021 by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, NMS will now get Sh18.6 billion for recurrent expenditure and Sh9.32 billion for development expenditure.
The allocations are part of a number of proposed amendments, factoring NMS, presented to the National Assembly on May 14, 2020 by Mr Yatani.
The CS had on April 29, 2020 submitted budget estimates for the coming financial year without factoring in the newly established office.
In the letter addressed to National Assembly Clerk Michael Sialai, Mr Yatani explained that the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua had submitted the budget estimates for the NMS after the Treasury’s submission to Parliament, prompting the proposed amendment.
“The Head of Public Service submitted the Budget Estimates for Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) after our submission to parliament. In this regard we request for inclusion of NMS budget Estimates in the National Government Budget under the Presidency,” read in part the letter by Mr Yatani.
NMS is also set to receive a further Sh1.5 billion for the Mukuru slums renewal projects in the year under review, should the National Assembly approve the estimates which will now allow NMS to embark on different projects in the area.
SHOESTRING BUDGET
Mukuru slums are part of a special master plan by the National and Nairobi County Governments to upgrade slum areas in the capital after the expansive informal settlement was in 2018 declared a Special Planning Area.
The new development comes at a time when the Major General Mohammed Badi led office complained that they have been operating on minimal funding to run the four key functions ceded to it by City Hall for two years.
Mr Badi said they have now been forced to operate on a shoestring budget following a drawn-out tussle at City Hall over allocation of funds to the transferred functions delaying access to the much-needed funds.
The new office has been depending on the Sh3.8 billion given to it on April 17, 2020 by the National Treasury to kick start its operations with Sh2.2 billion to be spent on salaries and operations while the rest appropriated for the roll out of new development projects.
That has been the only funds accessible to NMS as an attempt by the Nairobi County Assembly to allocate Sh15 billion to the new outfit through a supplementary budget was declined by Governor Mike Sonko.
This has led to a standoff of more than a month over the supplementary budget with a deal only being struck last week which will now see only Sh3.5 billion given to NMS for the transferred functions in a new supplementary budget set to be presented to the assembly for consideration in June on resumption of its sittings.