Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has accused Interior Principal Secretary (PS) Karanja Kibicho of frustrating his efforts to help residents pull through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In a lengthy post on Facebook, the embattled Governor said Kibicho gave instructions to his juniors to remove and vandalize a new public sanitisation booth that had been installed at the Kibra Deputy County Commissioner’s office.
The vandalism, Sonko said, took place on Monday morning.
“I am saddened by the vandalism that occurred earlier today, supervised by the Kibra Deputy County Commissioner who personally confirmed to me of his ill actions through his cell phone no. 0724614583 allegedly with instructions from the Nairobi Regional Coordinator who also confirmed the same to my chief of staff through his cell phone no. 0723947249 on the removal and vandalism of the new public sanitization booth that had been installed at the Kibra DCC’s offices. The RC confirmed the instructions were from PS interior, ” part of the post reads.
The County boss accused the officials of playing personal and dirty politics with the lives of Nairobi residents. He wondered why his Mombasa counterpart Ali Hassan Joho’s similar initiative was lauded by government while his was brought down.
This is, however, not the first time Sonko has accused Kibicho of fuelling his political woes and exposing him in bad light. Last year, the duo engaged in war of words over Nairobi leadership crisis.
Read: Sonko: I’ve Been Banned From Distributing Food To Needy Nairobians
“Recently, my colleague and Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho launched public sanitization booths, in partnership with the Suleiman Shahbal Foundation, that are boldly emblazoned with the names of the two leaders, and nobody has had a problem with that, ” said Sonko.
“So, today’s vandalism of the public sanitization booth in Kibra spearheaded by none other than the DCC was a new low, and the hallmark of the selfishness and pettiness that has infiltrated our society, to the extent that a few individuals who are paid salaries by Kenyans, and who are guaranteed of adequate food and the best healthcare, would brazenly destroy a facility meant to benefit the public, just to punish Sonko.”
According to Sonko, this is not the first time the government is blocking his initiatives to cushion the needy and vulnerable Nairobians from the effects of COVID-19 under the Sonko Rescue Team including food support and fumigating streets and residentials.
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The team, Sonko said, was barred from performing the functions over claims of overstepping his mandate on the roles of the newly created Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Office, which took over some of the County functions he surrendered.
“The RC also went ahead and instructed the police to suspend all our services to the great people of Nairobi via the following communication to all police forums, ” said Sonko.
The message Sonko alleges was sent out by the Regional Coordinator reads, “Good evening commanders. Please note it has been observed that the SONKO RESCUE team has been going round undertaking certain functions which belong to NMS. This has not been observed in good light . From the date of this information, the DSICs are advised that SONKO RESCUE team is not recognized and therefore not allowed to conduct business in your AOR. Confirm copied.”
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The Governor now says the only way to eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic is to put politics aside and work as a team.
“Let us all set aside petty politics, and work together to save our motherland. As a country, we cannot afford the calamity we have seen in China, Europe or the USA. The time to tame the virus is now, not tomorrow, he said.
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