SAKAJA UNDER FIRE: Mosiria Exposes Sh1.1 Billion Budget Row, Procurement Pressure
A bitter fallout between Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and Geoffrey Mosiria has exploded into a public confrontation, with the former county official accusing his boss of systematically stripping him of authority, frustrating his work, interfering with procurement decisions and ultimately removing him from office. In a statement published on X, Mosiria has challenged Sakaja to explain what he describes as a campaign of administrative intimidation dating back to December 28, 2023. The statement goes far beyond an ordinary disagreement over a county government dismissal. It raises questions about the management of public funds, procurement processes, the exercise of authority within Nairobi City County and the treatment of officials who resist instructions from their superiors. At the centre of Mosiria's accusations is a claim that his refusal to facilitate direct procurement benefiting individuals close to the governor and county contractors triggered a series of retaliatory administrative decisions. Mosiria says Sakaja stripped him of his responsibilities, transferred his functions to junior officers, drastically reduced the budget under his docket and subsequently deployed him to positions where he had little meaningful authority. The governor has not been shown responding to these specific accusations in the material provided. Sh1.1 Billion Budget Reduction Raises Questions Over Procurement Among the most serious claims in Mosiria's statement is that the budget under his former Health docket was reduced from Sh1.2 billion to Sh100 million. If the figures are confirmed in county budget records, that represents a reduction of approximately 91.7 per cent. Mosiria directly links the reduction to his refusal to participate in procurement arrangements he says were designed to benefit individuals around the governor and selected contractors. He also identifies a WhatsApp conference call involving Sakaja and Chief of Staff Osman Khalifa as an encounter in which he says he was confronted over the procurement disagreement. The allegations demand answers that go beyond political exchanges on social media. Was the budget reduced as Mosiria claims? Which programmes lost funding? Who authorised the changes? Were the reductions approved through the proper budgetary process? And were any direct procurement requests made in connection with the disputed funds? These questions can be tested against county budget estimates, supplementary appropriations, procurement records, internal correspondence and the memorandum Mosiria says transferred his responsibilities to subordinate officers. Mosiria's account has also been covered by Citizen Digital and People Daily, although the available reporting does not independently establish that improper procurement occurred. citizen.digital +1 December 28, 2023: The Meeting Mosiria Says Changed Everything Mosiria identifies December 28, 2023, as the date his working relationship with Sakaja effectively collapsed. He says the governor summoned him to a private office in Riverside, Nairobi, where his responsibilities as an accounting officer were withdrawn. According to Mosiria, a memorandum subsequently transferred important financial responsibilities to junior officers. The legality of those changes cannot be determined from his statement alone. However, the circumstances warrant examination because the designation of accounting officers and the authority to incur public expenditure carry statutory responsibilities. A key question is whether the disputed memorandum merely changed operational signing arrangements or removed responsibilities that Mosiria was legally entitled to exercise. The distinction matters because administrative delegation is not automatically misconduct. Any finding of wrongdoing would depend on the governing law, the terms of the appointment and the actual instructions issued. From Health to Environment: Mosiria Describes Being Reduced to an Idle Officer Mosiria says the confrontation was followed by his transfer to the Environment department. Rather than being given a meaningful opportunity to lead, he claims his director reported directly to Sakaja, effectively bypassing him. He describes spending time in the office without substantive responsibilities before deciding to participate personally in street-level enforcement operations. Those operations helped make Mosiria a familiar public figure in Nairobi, where his interventions on environmental issues and public complaints attracted significant attention. But his statement now presents a different account of that period: one in which the visible public activity concealed a serious internal dispute over authority. His subsequent transfer to Public Participation, Citizen Engagement and Customer Service did not resolve the conflict, according to his account. Claims of Workplace Intimidation and a Court Case Mosiria further accuses individuals within the county administration of subjecting him to attacks through official WhatsApp groups, public criticism and professional frustration. He also refers to contempt-of-court proceedings that he says exposed him to the possibility of six months in jail. He believes the proceedings formed part of an effort to force him out of office, although that interpretation would require examination of the relevant court record. The allegations introduce another question: whether Mosiria's grievances were ever formally presented to county human-resource authorities or other oversight bodies, and what action, if any, followed. Sacking Comes Days After Mosiria Declares Interest in Nairobi Governorship The confrontation reached a new stage on Wednesday, October 21, when Nairobi County Secretary Machel Waikenda issued a notice reorganising several chief-officer responsibilities. The changes assigned Zipporah Njeri Mwangi acting responsibility for Public Participation, Citizen Engagement and Customer Service while retaining her existing City Culture, Arts and Tourism portfolio. The notice cited provisions of the County Governments Act and took effect immediately. Mosiria's removal came days after he publicly declared his intention to seek the Nairobi governorship in the 2027 General Election. The timing has intensified attention on the breakdown between the two officials, although it does not by itself establish political retaliation. citizen.digital +1 Mosiria Warns of Another Court Case In the closing section of his statement, Mosiria claims to have received information that a fresh court case is being prepared against him. He believes the proposed proceedings are intended to secure his imprisonment. He has not publicly provided sufficient evidence in the material reviewed to establish that such a plan exists. Nevertheless, the accusation adds to the seriousness of the dispute and creates an opportunity for the relevant authorities to clarify whether any investigation or prosecution involving Mosiria is underway. Nairobi Residents Deserve Answers, Not Another City Hall Feud The most important issue emerging from this confrontation is not which official has delivered the sharper political statement. It is whether public money was allocated and spent lawfully, whether procurement procedures were followed, whether county officers exercised their responsibilities within the law and whether complaints of improper interference were properly investigated. Mosiria has put forward specific dates, figures, individuals and communications that investigators could examine. Sakaja and the Nairobi County administration should have an opportunity to respond to those claims, particularly the procurement allegations, the budget changes and the circumstances surrounding the December 2023 memorandum. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Office of the Auditor-General and relevant county oversight institutions have roles in examining credible evidence of procurement irregularities or misuse of public resources. A Sh1.1 billion reduction in a county departmental budget, if substantiated, is a matter requiring a documentary explanation. An accusation that procurement decisions were influenced to benefit politically connected contractors is even more serious. Mosiria's statement does not prove those accusations. But it identifies a set of records and decisions that can be independently examined. For Nairobi residents, the appropriate outcome is not simply another exchange of accusations between two public figures. It is a clear accounting of what happened, who authorised the disputed decisions and whether any public resources were improperly handled.