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Hillary Mageka @hillarymageka

The picking of Major-General Mohamed Abdalla Badi as the Director General of the newly-created Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) adds to a long list of appointments of military and intelligence officers into the public service for the past six years.

They include Public Works principal secretary Maj-Gen (Rtd) Gordon Kihalangwa, National Transport and Safety Authority chairman Lt-Gen (Rtd) Jackson Waweru, Kenya Ports Authority chairman Gen (Rtd) Joseph Kibwana, Kenya Wildlife Service Director-General Brigadier (Rtd)John Waweru, National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director-General Maj-General (Rtd) Philip Kameru, Government Spokesman Colonel (Rtd) Cyrus Oguna and Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) DG Maj (Rtd)George Nyamoko, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji, Immigration Services director Alexander Muteshi, the Financial Reporting Centre director general Saitoti Maika and anti-graft boss Twalib Mbarak were fished out of the intelligence community.

The NMS, a State corporation, will take over governance and administrative duties of Nairobi City County after Governor Mike Sonko surrendered key  City Hall responsibilities to the national government.

Badi, a Senior Directing Staff officer in charge of Kenya Air Force at the National Defence College (NDC),will have the primary responsibility of ensuring that they deliver services to the citizens of Nairobi.

“I will task them first to bring an end to corruption and dismantle the cartels.

This is a tall order, but I pledge that I will ensure that they are fully supported by the government in whatever way possible to achieve this goal,” Uhuru said as he commissioned the Nairobi Metropolitan Service on Wednesday.

Run for office

But Maj-Gen Badi’s appointment has sparked debate on the President’s preference for the men in uniform for civilian appointments.

While his supporters said Uhuru was keen to tap into the military discipline in public service, others argued that the move was irregular.

Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi noted that appointment of Badi was a demonstration that Uhuru has lost faith in lay appointed and elected leaders.

According to him, only distinguished professionals should run for elective office in 2022. 

“In that case, therefore, let us have only distinguished soldiers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, and engineers, et alia on the ballot for President, governor, senator, women representative, Member of National Assembly and MCA,” he suggested.

“Let all career political charlatans retire with President Uhuru,” he added.

Value for taxes

However, lawyer Kimathi Mwirichia, differed with Havi and Senior Counsel Ahmenasir Abdullahi who described the move as unconstitutional. 

According to Mwirichia,  there is nothing unconstitutional or illegal about the appointment of the two-star general of Kenya Airforce to  manage Nairobi City County.

“What Nairobians need is provision of better services. Even if this was achieved by someone from Mars that would be perfect,” Mwirichia said.

Machakos Deputy Speaker Nganga Wa Ngangani came to the defence of the President. “Uhuru is opting for KDF and intelligence officials because of their unwavering, non-accosted honesty, truth and non-biased enforcement of fair government decision,” he said.

Lawyer Kenneth Wanyama said: “Kenyans aren’t interested in two or three star generals. We need value for our taxes and if this general can be of help to the President so be it.”

On their part, former chairman of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) Kiprono Kittony and former Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Roselyne Akombe said the appointment of the military chief was an indictment on the status quo.

“Anybody else concerned with militarisation of civilian institutions?” Akombe asked on twitter.

Kittony replied: “Very sad to see military officers take over City Hall. It’s an indictment to the status quo,”

Others attributed Uhuru’s appointments to the training in the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) colleges that emphasise on values such as discipline and integrity.

“I task NMS to work on streamlining urban renewal projects such as Jevanjee, Pangani, and others, which had been previously awarded before 2018 and have continually been delayed,” said Uhuru on Wednesday.

In December 2014, Uhuru appointed Joseph Boinnet as Inspector General of Police. Previously, Boinnet had served as an Assistant Intelligence Principal Officer at NIS.

Boinnet, was succeeded by the current Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai, who is also a former NIS man.

Boinnet is credited with restoring the relationship between NIS and the police, which led to a decline in terror attacks in the country

In March 2018, Uhuru appointed Noordin Haji a Deputy Director of Counter Organised Crime at the NIS as the Director of Public Prosecutions following a successful interview by the Public Service Commission (PSC) and vetting by National Assembly.