Nairobi Metropolitan Services Director General Major General Mohamed Badi has appointed a parallel board of directors for the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Services.
The new board will be chaired by another military man, Major General (Rtd) Andrew Ikenye, for three years, according to the Gazette Notice.
Others appointed to the board include principal secretaries responsible for Water, Housing, Finance in the national government and NMS Deputy Director-General Enosh Onyango.
The board also includes Athi Water Works Development Agency CEO Kiragu Chege, Florence Njau (chairperson [Nairobi Branch], Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers chairman Nicholas Nesbitt, Kenya Private Sector Alliance’s Wakaguyu wa Kibiru (Independent Member), Petronilla Asiyo Ogut (Independent Member) and Nairobi Water CEO Nahason Muguna as an ex-officio.
The term of the new team was effected on June 17.
Badi said the move has been taken following the transfer of key functions from Nairobi County to the national government.
This has, however, raised concerns about the militarisation of civilian institutions in the country.
Soon after appointing Badi to head NMS, President Uhuru Kenyatta seconded seven more military officers to the county.
Out of the seven officers seconded to NMS, four are from the Kenya Army and three from the Air Force.
The army officers are Brigadier F, Laura, Major J. V. Mbithi, Major A. N. Nyakundi and Major J. K. Njoroge.
Those from the Air Force are Major Mohamed Badi, who is the NMS director general, Colonel J. K. Biomdo and Major A. L. Musoma.
According to Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, the militarisation that has been carried out successfully in Nairobi County through the NMS will be rolled out in other sectors in quick succession.
“The NMS will be heralded as the epitome of efficiency with a view to making military rule not only a possible prospect but also a plausible alternative. With the most sensitive state organs being stewarded by the military and intelligence veterans, the scale up of this militarisation will not pose a major challenge,” Kuria said in a Facebook post on Monday.
While some argue the move to bring in military officers seeks to restore discipline and fight corruption in the county, activist Ndung’u Wainaina of Africa Council on Human Security says when the Executive arm of state turns tyranny, its top leaders know how to rule with help of force, but not with democratic legitimacy.
“Security and intelligence apparatus become the most very important tool for repression, manipulation, propaganda and control of Kenyans,” he said.
