Court orders CBK to recognise Sakaja’s new Finance CEC as Nairobi County bank signatory
Justice Mburu found that the court's intervention was necessary to facilitate the implementation of an already valid appointment and prevent further.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja before the Senate’s Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations Committee at County Hall, Nairobi on February 26, 2026. (Photo: NCCG)
The High Court has ordered the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to recognise Ibrahim Auma Nyangoya as the authorised signatory to Nairobi County government bank accounts, paving the way for him to formally take over the financial functions previously held by former County Executive Committee (CEC) Member for Finance Charles Kerich.
In a ruling delivered by Justice David Mburu, the court directed CBK to immediately update Nairobi County’s banking mandate and records to reflect Nyangoya as the County Executive Committee Member for Finance and Economic Planning without requiring the physical attendance of Kerich during the transition.
The judge held that CBK’s operational requirement for the outgoing finance executive to be present had become impossible to fulfil under the circumstances and should not stand in the way of the county’s operations.
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“In the peculiar circumstances of this case, compliance with the CBK’s operational requirement requiring the physical attendance and participation of the former CEC Member responsible for Finance and Economic Planning has become impossible and is hereby dispensed with for purposes of effecting the change of banking mandate,” Justice Mburu ruled.
The court further ordered the officer in charge of banking services at CBK, or any other officer responsible for maintaining Nairobi County’s banking mandate, to implement the changes immediately upon service of the court order.
Justice Mburu observed that the orders sought by Nairobi County were merely facilitative, aimed at enabling CBK to implement an appointment that had already been lawfully made by Governor Johnson Sakaja.
He noted that granting the orders would allow the county government to continue discharging its constitutional and statutory functions without disruption and ensure uninterrupted delivery of public services.
“There should never be a prolonged vacuum in the said office; the operations of the County Government would grind to a halt,” the judge said.
Court documents showed that Governor Sakaja appointed Nyangoya as the Finance CEC on June 5, 2026, with the appointment subsequently published in the Kenya Gazette on June 24, making it legally effective.
Following the appointment, the county requested CBK to update its banking mandate to recognise Nyangoya as the new authorised signatory. However, the process stalled because CBK's transition procedures required the participation of the former office holder, who was unavailable.
The county argued that it had fulfilled all other CBK requirements and that the only outstanding condition, the physical attendance of Kerich, was beyond its control.
It told the court that the delay had disrupted county financial operations, delayed payments and exposed the county to the risk of failing to meet its constitutional and statutory obligations.
In allowing the application, Justice Mburu found that the court's intervention was necessary to facilitate the implementation of an already valid appointment and prevent further disruption to Nairobi County's financial administration and public service delivery.