Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has responded to an article published in the Sunday Nation on April 15 titled ‘The Madhouse that is Sonko's City Hall Office’. Sonko said that the article portrayed the Nairobi City County Government under his leadership as ‘dysfunctional and depict him as a failed Governor’.
In a statement released on Sunday evening 15 April, Sonko denied claims that he drinks during meetings and throughout the day.
“The claim that I drink alcohol in meetings and throughout the day is an outright lie, and it will be upon the Sunday Nation to prove this in court. If I am due to meet an ambassador as reported in the story, and a meeting I have with slum dwellers overruns in terms of time, is that a crisis? Is a Nairobi slum dweller less important than an ambassador?” read part of the statement.
The Governor also dismissed claims that the makes phone calls during official meetings to give M-Pesa instructions.
“The other claims of making phone calls in the middle of official meetings to give MPesa instructions, or failing to listen to my officers, are all bald allegations peddled by the Sunday Nation team. This journalistic mediocrity does not befit a national newspaper but it looks like the Sunday Nation wants to slide deeper into the gutter,” Sonko continued.
Sonko later gave a brief of facts that Nairobi residents should know.
“Here are a few facts Nairobi residents need to know: Revenue collection is highest under my administration than it has ever been in the past. Salaries of almost 15,000 county staff are paid on time every month compared to my predecessor's era whereby workers would go for five months without pay. Under my leadership, corruption is at its lowest. Last year Nairobi was ranked third most corrupt, this year we are nowhere near the top 30,” he said.
“We have installed an oxygen plant at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital which is supplying oxygen to many hospitals in Nairobi, a renal unit at Mbagathi Hospital giving life- saving services to kidney patients as well as expanded maternity services in Kayole and Baba Dogo. My office has procured 26 fire engines, we are constructing 5 markets and also in the process of constructing four stadia in the city. Piles of garbage that accumulated during my predecessor's reign have been moved to the proper dumping site, and the beautification of our city is in top gear,” he continued.
The Governor has since instructed his lawyers to seek legal redress.
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