The fall-out between President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko played out today, as the President in an interview aired on some vernacular radio stations, revealed that he had helped Sonko ascend to the capital city’s top seat.
And for the first time, President Kenyatta has publicly addressed the fallout admitting that he instigated Sonko’s removal from office because everything in Nairobi had ground to a halt at some point because of his leadership style.
The president hailed Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Director General Mohammed Badi saying he had shown Nairobians that government can deliver if spearheaded by committed leadership.
However, in a strongly-worded post on his social media platforms, the impeached Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko refuted the statements that President Uhuru helped him clinch the Nairobi Gubernatorial seat in the 2017 General Elections.
Sonko said he was validly elected by close to one million residents of Nairobi garnering more votes than the President himself. He added that Governors are not Presidential appointees.
Sonko had garnered 871,794 votes in 2017, while President Uhuru garnered 779,299 votes in Nairobi during the repeat presidential poll.
Sonko also Sonko went on to highlight all the projects he did during his tenure in office, noting 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 among others.
“It is therefore ridiculous for the President to allude to failure of any administration, yet he has presided over the worst administration in the history of Kenya,” he said.
He urged the President to own up to Kenyans that he has been ‘incompetent and incapable’ of running the country.
During the interview, President Uhuru Kenyatta once again defended the BBI referendum push amidst claims that it will have a high-cost implication on the country’s taxpayers.
President Kenyatta pointed out that the country loses up to Sh2 billion a day to corruption and as such the cost for BBI is less compared to the amount being lost daily through corruption.
The head of state has at the same time dismissed the Dynasty versus Hustler narrative as divisive, saying it is fueling hatred against privileged people.
While acknowledging that majority of Kenya’s youthful population is jobless, he cautioned politicians against inciting them against the rich.
Amidst the speculation from various leaders in the Mt. Kenya region the President also made a passionate appeal for residents to unite behind his development course.