In a circular dated November 5, 2025, County Secretary Godfrey Akumali informed all Level 4 and 5 hospitals and health facility heads that the Nairobi City County Executive Committee had resolved to designate Sidian Bank as its principal banker.

“In its 69th Meeting held on 28th October, 2025, the Nairobi City County Executive Committee resolved to designate Sidian Bank as its principal banker,” the circular read in part.

“This correspondence hereby serves to communicate the resolution of the County Executive Committee to request that you complete the attached forms to facilitate the opening of your respective accounts,” it added, directing facilities to submit all required documents to the County Executive Committee Member for Finance by Friday, November 7, 2025.

The circular was copied to Governor Sakaja, Deputy Governor James Muchiri, and the County Executive Committee Member for Finance and Economic Planning.

Reacting to the directive, Sifuna accused the Sakaja administration of making a questionable financial decision that raises red flags over possible kickbacks and misuse of public resources.

“The health facilities in Nairobi have been banking with Cooperative Bank, a tier-one bank with a solid history and reputation,” Sifuna posted on X.

“How you wake up one day and direct all of them to move to a tier-three bank cannot be explained any other way than that corruption is at play,” he said.

Sifuna, who also serves as the ODM Secretary-General, demanded that the governor explain why such a major financial shift was made without public consultation or approval by the County Assembly.

He argued that changing the county’s banking partner is not only irregular but could also disrupt essential health services that rely on seamless financial operations for procurement, payments, and emergency responses.

“These hospitals handle millions of shillings daily,from patient fees to supplier payments. You don’t just wake up and hand that responsibility to a smaller bank without explaining what benefit it brings to Nairobians,” Sifuna stated.

The senator further questioned whether due diligence had been conducted to assess Sidian Bank’s capacity to handle the scale of county transactions.

“If the County Treasury has nothing to hide, they should table all procurement documents and minutes that led to this decision,” he added.

Efforts to reach County Secretary Godfrey Akumali and County Executive Committee Member for Finance and Economic Planning for comment were unsuccessful by press time.

Governor Sakaja has not publicly responded to the concerns, though the county circular emphasized that the directive was a formal resolution of the Executive Committee.

The sudden shift comes amid growing scrutiny of financial management practices in county governments, with senators and watchdog agencies warning that arbitrary banking changes can expose public funds to mismanagement.

The post Sifuna Questions Sakaja Over Sudden Shift of County Health Accounts to Sidian Bank appeared first on Insider Bits News.