President Uhuru Kenyatta has for the first time spoken about his fallout with former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko.
Speaking during an interview broadcasted on 4 radio stations on Monday, January 18, the Head of State explained that his fall out with Sonko was prompted by the fact that he is always fighting people.
Uhuru also noted that development in the city had been sluggish until Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) headed by Mohammed Badi took over the reins.
"I’m the one who helped him get elected, but we fell out because he was always fighting people. Chaos everywhere. You can now see what our new person (Badi) has done on city roads and cleaning up Nairobi.
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“Nairobi is an example of how things can change. NMS is transforming the face of the city unlike it was previously,” stated Uhuru.
Sonko and Badi were often at loggerheads after the transfer of key functions including health services, urban planning, transport and public works from Nairobi County Government to NMS.
Sonko maintained that NMS was an illegally instituted entity and that he was coerced into giving away the functions while under the influence of alcohol.
The rift seemed to widen after Sonko’s impeachment as well as the subsequent appointment of Ann Mwenda Kananu as Nairobi Deputy Governor.
During his address, Uhuru told leaders hurling insults at him that they were wasting their time.
"Insult is like mud, it doesn’t stick, but goes away as soon you touch water. They think if they insult me I will send the police. Let them be. I’m busy here in my office.
“As they go round doing their street rallies, they are only talking of the projects they have done with me. Those projects are done from this office of mine, not from the roofs of those cars,” he added
Nairobi Metropolitan Services Director General Mohamed Badi (centre) together with Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi (right) when they reclaimed the grabbed HIghridge Dispensary clinic on Monday, July 13, 2020.
In the interview that was conducted at State House, Uhuru also confronted a politician in attendance, alleged to be allied to DP William Ruto.
Without mentioning his name, the President revealed that the politician was unhappy when he joined hands with Ruto ahead of the 2013 General Elections and even avoided speaking to him (Uhuru) for three months.
The Head of State noted that he formed alliances in pursuit of peace and defended his handshake with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
"The reason BBI is not being accepted by our people is that there is someone telling them that they should hold and wait for what he will do. Others have been told it’s about Raila, and I wonder. If the money goes to Kirinyaga and Kiambu, who is Raila’s neighbor there?
“Kenyans should not be blinded by the noise that BBI will use Ksh2 billion or Ksh14 billion. How much has been looted by some of those complaining loudest which we are trying to recover from them now,” he explained.
“These people should not mislead the public that Ksh2billion will be spent, yet what they steal every day is more than Ksh2 billion. These people are useless, and I will say it openly, how much do they spend every year?" he stated.
Uhuru was speaking in an interview with Kikuyu radio stations; Inooro, Kameme, and Gukena.
The controversial statement revived a report titled Elite Capture of Foreign Aid: Evidence from Offshore Bank Accounts that was published by Bob Rijkers of the World Bank, Jorgen Juel Andersen of BI Norwegian Business School, and Niels Johannesen of the University of Copenhagen.
Sonko has shifted the blame of Nairobi’s failures to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s sister, Margaret Kenyatta.
Taking to his social media page on January 18, Sonko dismissed the Head of State’s allegation that the county’s development was stunted under his leadership.
President Kenyatta, while on an interview with vernacular radio station, Coro FM on January 18, accused Sonko of orchestrating sluggish development in the city, adding that it was him that endeared Sonko to the people.
File image of former Nairobi City Mayor Margaret Kenyatta.
Sonko was, however, quick to rubbish the allegations, claiming that the city was run to the ground by poor leadership dating back to the days of Margaret Kenyatta, Uhuru’s sister.
“When I assumed office in 2017, I inherited a badly run-down city that held an endemic culture of stealing public resources at the expense of services delivery, a culture that was initiated by the President’s half-sister Margaret Kenyatta when she was the Mayor of Nairobi in 1970-1976,” Sonko alleged.
“It is from that time that public lands and utilities were stolen with wanton abandon, zoning laws and policies disregarded with impunity, and many other vices became the hallmark of the operations of City Hall,” he added.
He argued that it is within this period that cartels took hold of key sectors within the city. Sonko stated that it is his fight against these cartels that earned him international recognition and applause for the work he was doing.
He argued that within a few days after assuming office, he cracked down on the cartels that had held Nairobi hostage for decades, sealed all the looting avenues by digitizing revenue collection, and Nairobians began to enjoy services once again without having to offer or pay a bribe.
“It is the result of these stringent measures that International Agencies and Partners like the World Bank, UNEP, UNDP, DANIDA and many others regained confidence in Nairobi, and provided support that saw my administration build over 140km of roads in under two years, compared to less than 20km done by my predecessor in 5 years,” Sonko stated, further listing a number of development milestones achieved by his administration.
Sonko claimed that it was ridiculous for President Kenyatta to allude to failure of any administration, yet he has presided over the worst administration in the history of the country.
He pointed fingers at President Kenyatta for the challenges faced in the city, accusing him of fostering selfish interests at the expense of suffering and hardworking Kenyans.
"What the President will never tell Kenyans is that his selfish family agenda was the motivation behind my illegal and hurried removal from office.
“The Kenyatta family has set out on an elaborate plan to misuse Nairobi County resources to build infrastructure for their Northlands City project, hence the illegal demolitions and evictions we saw in Ruai Kariobangi and Korogocho in the guise of expanding the Nairobi’s sewerage infrastructure,” Sonko alleged.
He accused the Head of State of employing stated resources to salvage the careers of other governors in support of the Building Bridges Initiative, despite being impeached by members of the county assembly.
Sonko argued that President Kenyatta could not account for the Ksh8 trillion loans he had borrowed in the course of his reign.
"What does the President have to show apart from unprecedented unemployment, poverty and hopelessness in millions of Kenyans? The millions of jobs promised to our youth remain a mirage with the head of state now resorting to selling false hope in the name of Handshake and BBI.
“In conclusion, I wish to urge the President to own up to Kenyans that he has been incompetent and incapable of running a country from the first day, and holding independent institutions at ransom while harassing and tormenting leaders who tell him the truth will not save him from the wrath of hungry and angry Kenyans,” Sonko stated.
The former Nairobi governor echoed former Chief Justice David Maraga’s sentiments that the Head of State should have been impeached.