Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi sat before the Senate’s Devolution Committee on March 30, 2026, to defend a newly signed cooperation agreement between the national government and the Nairobi City County Government. The appearance came amid growing scrutiny from lawmakers who wanted to understand how the deal differed from past arrangements that had proven contentious.
Central to Mudavadi’s argument was his insistence that the framework should not be compared to the now-defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services. He drew a firm distinction, telling senators that the new deal was about coordination between two levels of government rather than a transfer of county functions to the national government. “This is a cooperation agreement and not a transfer of functions. The NMS was a transfer of functions — this one is purely around coordination,” he said.
The scope of the agreement is ambitious. Spanning two years and estimated at around Sh80 billion, the framework sets out to address some of the city’s most entrenched urban problems. Key interventions include improvements to water and sanitation systems, the installation of 50,000 street lights across the city, road rehabilitation, expansion of public markets, flood resilience projects, and enhanced security operations in Nairobi’s various neighbourhoods.
Senate pushback was swift and pointed. Several lawmakers were uncomfortable with what they saw as echoes of the NMS arrangement, which saddled the county with Sh15 billion in unpaid bills upon its closure. Senator Karungo Thang’wa argued that regardless of how the deal was labelled, it functionally replicated a transfer of county roles. Senator Catherine Mumma went further, criticising the government for signing the agreement without adequate public participation, a requirement under Kenya’s devolution framework.
Mudavadi pushed back by appealing to the national significance of the capital. He reminded the committee that Nairobi’s contribution to the national economy cannot be overstated. “Nairobi accounts for about 60 percent of our GDP as a country,” he said, arguing that targeted, coordinated investment in the city was not merely a county concern but a matter of national interest.
On the question of governance, Mudavadi outlined a two-tiered oversight structure. A joint steering committee, chaired by his office, will provide strategic direction for the initiative. Below that, Governor Johnson Sakaja’s implementation committee will be responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of projects, an arrangement the PCS said was designed to ensure both levels of government remained actively involved and accountable.
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